• Graded • The Door of Death

[Arlo Creede]

Luther's response to Arlo's theory regarding the dead woman on the couch certainly had merit, and an uncommitted lift of the shoulders, his own, indicated as much. Except there was one thing they'd do well to keep in mind. "You may be right," he said. "But there's a lot going on here in this house that by logic, shouldn't be reasonable or possible. But it is, nonetheless." Better to keep an open mind, was the implication, rather than relying on what they thought they knew to be true.

It was confusing enough for him already, considering that he'd been moved out of one place and into another in the blink of an eye. Twice. And he was as little sure of why now, as he had been the first time. And to add to the nonsensical nature of it all, several times now, Hart had thrust his hand into the fire.

And then the man who'd been naked to the world when Arlo had shown up, was trying to charm his choice of dance partner into revealing something important. It was viable an option as any, Arlo guessed. But clearly things went south. Daia was dead? Who'd killed her? With all the lack of sense or clarity flying around, Arlo reached for at least one thing he could rely on...besides Vega. He wrapped his hand round the hilt of his sword, just in case. So, the woman on the couch was Daia?

Whether she was or whether she wasn't, suddenly they were under attack. First he was wearing a dress, oddly not the first time it had happened to him, and then he was stabbed. If not literally, it might as well have been and clenching his teeth and hissing through them as he doubled over, he knew that this must be what dying felt like. Father. That he heard through a haze of pain. Faldrun. Vega's father. And no sooner had the sensation passed, they were under attack again, and Vega began to sing. He knew what it was about. It meant that he could move faster than his attackers, and since he'd experienced the sensation before, he ought to be able to time his movements effectively.

Of course there were too many of the dancers, and before he even lifted his sword, he lifted his fist instead, the ring on his finger aimed at the closest of their attackers. If it worked as it should in this place, the ground around the figure would break and buckle up around him or her, and imprison them there in one place for a time. Almost simultaneously, since Vega was still singing, he lifted his sword, turned on his heel and swung the blade up in an arc, aimed at the throat of the next one in line to attack him or his allies.

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Maybe

As Luther syphoned the corpse and anchor that had been Daia, one emotion he sucked out would resonate strongly. Defensive anger. And that's when Daia's eyes opened, staring directly into Luther's, with pure, white hot rage. Then the ghostly hands reached out of Daia's corpse, wrapped around his neck, and pulled him out of his borrowed body, out of his jacket, dragging the ghost of Luther into the Anchor.

And Daia's eyes closed once more.

Left standing over Daia's body was a feminine shape that seemed to be made of lightly flowing breezes and flower petals. She turned, Luther's jacket held in her less than corporeal hand. She smiled, either not willing or not able to talk. But the power she gave off might indicate what she truly was. A spirit of life.

The attacking dancers were not phased by Hart's words, nor did they seem to notice while Hart searched for a Need. But to find that need would take several moments, for he'd have to recognize each dancer's need, determine if it was the one he sought.

It was in those moments that Vega's song began. And while her haste was successfully applied to Arlo and Hart, Luther was long gone by that point. However, Vega's song did something else. The dancers stopped, and all eyes were on the singing redhead. And soon, hips and feet and arms were swaying and moving in time with Vega's song. They were dancing, for they worshiped dance.

Arlo's ring broke the ground beneath the lead dancer, but as a well trained and experienced dancer, their feet adjusted, allowing them to dance atop it until the ground swallowed them up. And while it imprisoned them, they kept right on dancing, so long as Vega was singing. And since none of them were now attacking the trio, there was no one for Arlo to slash the throat of.

Then Hart found the Need he sought. One of the lead dancers who'd heard that Daia was dead was needing for it to not be true. And thus, Hart's wish was granted. Daia sat up, staring at the group of people dancing, standing, or otherwise lollygagging about. But her eyes were empty, and no words left her mouth. She didn't stand, she didn't tap her foot, she didn't sway to the beat like any of her dead followers. She simply sat there.

For Daia was Empty.

!	Message from: Aegis
	Luther has been exited from this thread. He is now in the Door of Souls. I will post again on May 8th

[Vega]

"All the Immortals save us from you bunch of rat-arsed dweebs! Not a gibbet'o' sense amongst ya, an' yer all thinkin' with the wrong body parts." Vega shook her head, but then she did the only thing she could think of among all this nonsense and she began to sing. Arlo's hand had dropped to his sword ~ and she understood entirely why ~ but when they started dancing as she raised her voice in song, Vega glanced at him and shook her head. Just imperceptibly, but enough - enough that he'd know. He knew what she was thinking, half the time, before she even thought it so that would be no issue for him.

And Vega sung. Her voice was surprising, considering how coarse of mouth and harsh of tongue she was - it was sweet, almost. Yet, as events transpired, as Luther disappeared and all of it went in entirely the wrong direction, she did her best to communicate, the best way she knew how.

"That dead woman there is Daia,
I think she's the Immortal o' dance.
If that steamin' dweeb has sucked her essence,
He hasn't got a chance!"

Her voice was lilting, the tune was the same one and yet, the words were hers. Theirs. Please let Arlo and Hart understand her, she prayed.

"I think you brought her back to life,
But there's no spark of soul what's lit.
And that's gonna cause a lot of strife,
An' we're deeply in the shit.

So, I suggest, the pair o' you,
An' Chuckles, an' that strumpet.
Get ourselves together, now.
Or we're really gonna flunk it.

Cos if she's Empty, it might jus' be,
That someone's gonna fill her.
An' I for one, don't want to be,
The second one to kill her.

So here's my thought, what we should do,
An' how we should work together
We've got the tools, all that we need.
An' so, this storm we'll weather.

You made her wake, you steamin' dweeb,
Though Hart, you say's your name.
Of body an' soul, she's got but one,
An' Luther - he's the same.

So whate'r you did to wake her up.
Do it now, to fill her.
With Luther's soul, it's holdin' hers,
An' I don't think it'll kill her.

But what 'bout Luther, I know you wonder,
An' that's a bit more luck.
But I think if we can fix her,
She'll fix him. Lucky duck."

Would Hart understand? By Xiur, she hoped so. Put the two together - ghost and corpse. Maybe just maybe, they'd end up with two whole beings. She hoped that he'd do it - because she believed it was what they needed. Truly needed. Then, she glanced at Arlo.

"An' as for you, oh husband mine,
Don't go gettin' no flights of fancy.
We've still got to find that stupid door,
An' for that, we need them what dance..y"

With a sigh, she looked at Arlo and continued to sing.

"Remember where your talents lie,
Story an' song, an' a beautiful mind
Sing, an' tell a tale so grand
That their truth you'll find!

Would Arlo recognise what she wanted him to do? Immortals, she hoped so because his Mortalborn abilities with stories - and his ability to share a person's truth - to see their truth - would be really bloody handy about now. But still, there was another verse.

"An' if you two boys don't give a wriggle,
I'll give you both a shake.
I'm runnin' out of words what rhyme,
An' we've got no time to take!"

Off Topic

To clarify - Vega really wants Hart to put Luther's soul into Daia's body. She really - REALLY wants him to do that because she's scared of zombies - and thus a zombie Immortal is Very Bad News. She then wants Arlo to find out what the heck is going on by singing a story. Hart asked me to pop this in so his player can see what she's wishing.

[Hart]

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Common sign"

extra line here
The ghosts danced closer and closer, and Hart's eyes danced along with them. He looked upon them, from the dancer he had brought to the Lioness' room to the dancing man to the rest, and as he did his head became full of their Wishes.

Very quickly his head began to hurt. Then it began to hurt very badly. Then very, very badly. But he kept looking.

Vega was singing and it seemed to Hart as if the dancers had slowed. Arlo drew his sword and one of the dancers fell into the floor. The rest of them were stopped in their advance by Vega's song.

And that was when Hart saw it. The Wish he had been looking for.

He Wished, and it hurt.

It was like a crossbow bolt had been fired in his head. The pain heightened, heightened, like the string of a crossbow being winched back, and then the tension snapped and the Wish discharged.

Hart stumbled as if he'd been shot. He caught the edge of something, perhaps a piece of furniture, but there was too much going on and he wasn't sure where, or who he was.

The unwished Wishes screamed in his mind.

He was confused.

He thought, he thought he was Daia again. He was Daia again, wasn't he, and he was dying. He was bleeding from the chest. He was bleeding and there was blood-- but no, no, it was silver light. Somehow in the midst of his confusion he remembered to stop looking for more Wishes and he let out a gasp.

It wasn't relief, but at least the pain wasn't winching, winching, wasn't being drawn back to fire again. He grasped at the wound at his chest, and he was bleeding, but there was no wound. Just the light. It was from the Wish, he thought. His head was still hurting but he thought he knew who he was. The Wish. He looked at the immortal and she was sitting up. For a moment, he could have wept. And then he saw the nothing in her eyes.

"No," Hart moaned.

Vega was still singing, still trying to keep the dancers from hurting them, and Hart had to do what he could. "Lust," he said, and he realized there were tears on his face. He tried to get up and couldn't. "Lust, can, can you manipulate the dancers' bloodlust?" he asked her.

"Yes," the spirit said.

"Can you stop them from trying, from trying to kill us?" Hart asked.

"I'll try," Lust said.

"Please," Hart moaned, and tried again to get up.

He couldn't. The best he could do was get into a sort of half-crouch. There was too much in his head that wanted out, that was begging at him, screaming at him. He struggled to keep it together.

Luther was gone and Hart didn't, he didn't know what had happened to him. There was another spirit here suddenly, a spirit of life, and she had Luther's jacket. Vega had sent Chuckles after Arlo when Arlo had been gone, hadn't she? So Lust, she could go after Luther. But they needed Lust here to try to stop the dancers. Dammit. Dammit. He couldn't think.

"Spirit," Hart finally said, to the life spirit. "Please," he asked her, "Can you find Luther?" It was all he could do.

And then he heard Vega's song.

And, more than that, he heard her Wish.

Vega wanted to make Luther, to make Daia right again. She wanted Hart to do it. It was screaming in with the rest of the Wishes but she wanted it and what else could he do? Hart thought of Daia, of the Empty in her eyes, and that hurt so badly, so badly, as if he had done something desperately wrong.

Please, he thought. Please.

Then he looked at Vega and he granted her Wish.

OOC: To be clear, because this latest Wish specifically concerns Luther as well as Daia, I asked for Luther's permission OOC to attempt to grant the Wish. I don't grant Wishes unless all PCs involved have agreed to them.

To explain what is happening bc Hart is fucked up rn:

It's sort of like Hart is overstepping. He used Fulfillment a lot, and he's not used to using it this much. Aegis gave an estimate that there were 41 - 61 of the dancers in total, so I rolled a few dice to see how many Hart would have had to go through before he got to the one he needed. I used the dice roller in discord, and rolled d61s. I kept getting numbers which I considered to be too low (10, 28, 4) so I added those three numbers together to get 42. So, Hart has used Fulfillment in this thread 42 times, plus Daia, and now Vega. Coupled with the Wish he granted and the Bellinos ability he used, he is not doing well.

The mark on his chest (the "bleeding") is a Fracture as a result of using the Wish. Everytime Hart uses a Wish he Fractures. I generally like to have the Fractures be related to the Wishes granted, so it's basically where Daia was stabbed, transferred to Hart. It's not an actual wound but to Hart, it sort of is like one.

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Maybe

As Hart was casting his latest wish, the doorway that Luther had opened on his side, opened on this side as well, allowing them all to see Luther and Daia there dancing. But the moment the doorway had opened, Arlo had disappeared with a mild pop, his hat floating down to the ground where he'd been standing. The same hat that, if touched by anyone, would indicate that Arlo was alive and well, but simply not here. The song that was in Luther's head for his and Daia's dance now could be heard in the Palace of Lions. The hidden orchestra there heard it, and began to play it too, and all of the ghosts changed their dance to match that of Daia and Luther's.

Hart's wish took effect and Daia and Luther's dance carried them both through the doorway into this room that was once hers. A doorway that shut once she was through it. As they danced, color began to flood the palace of lions. Daia was leading Luther with such grace, that even to the most expert of eyes, it would seem Luther was leading. Her ability to step lightly made it so even Luther would think he was leading, and doing a fabulous job of it at that.

They continued to dance about the room, until Daia and Luther spun toward her body, and disappeared within it, with the aid of Hart's wish. She was sitting there on that couch, her eyes beginning to show some life, moving all about, as her mind processed everything. And as she did, glowing white cracks began moving up her legs and arms. Her eyes grew panicked and wild and scared. She was fracturing, just as she had before, just after she was stabbed.

Then a motherly voice resounded over the room.

"You will not die this day, old friend."

There in the back of the room, stepping away from a potted plant that was now vibrant green and flowered, the Spirit of Life hovering nearby, was Moseke. She stood tall, dark of skin, her hair full of roots, wearing a dress made of flowers from all over the world. Her presence alone would be enough to confirm who she was to all that were there. She stepped toward the fracturing Immortal, and dropped to her knees. She took both of Daia's hands in her own, and the women locked gazes.

And that's when the room brimmed with absolute power.

For Moseke had one ability that was unique among even the Immortals. She could generate lifeforce, and in massive amounts. And she was flooding this place with it, aiming as much of it as she could into Daia. Luther within Daia would be witnessing a world full of darkness, light, and could feel himself filling to the brim with the lifeforce. He could hear Moseke's voice. "You must help to hold her together. She needs everyone's help."

The lifeforce being pumped into the area was so immense, the errant ambient power, glowing and green, brought every single dancer back to life, though did not stop their dancing one moment. It gave great invigoration to Hart and Vega, making them feel younger, even removing that one annoying white hair that Vega would find from time to time. But Daia's fracturing hadn't stopped, but it did slow, working up to her thighs and upper arms.

However, the same fractures were working their way up Moseke's legs and arms as well. As Moseke continued to give the lifeforce only she could make, she began to realize it was not enough. There was one last thing she could do. She took a deep breath, and summoned forth all of her power of Life. It worked its way down her left arm, glowing brilliantly emerald, and entered into Daia's body, where it took hold of her soul. It threatened to explode her from within. Moseke continued to give everything she had.

"Just a little more... We can save her... We must save her..."

!	Message from: Aegis
	Luther has arrived. Arlo has been exited. The exit post can be found here Questions are always welcome. I will post again on May 15th.

[Vega]

"Fark-muffin' but where'd he go?!" Vega jumped forward and grabbed Arlo's hat. That done, she put it on her head and hit it on the top so that it embedded on her own unruly mop of red. "Is he a'right, Chuckles? I know he is, I can feel him, still. I'm gonna kill him if we survive this, so help me hoobart." Looking around she saw that Luther and Daia (if that was who it was, but Vega thought it was... sorta, maybe. Really, it was guess work) were doing a dance and it was, "well, that's right nice music an' I think they've stopped tryin' to - or even wantin' to kill us. That's good, innit, Chuckles?" But then, things started to go a little bit wrong and then a big bit wrong. "I don't think she's supposed to do that you know," Vega commented as Daia started to crack and light poured out of bits of her.

None of this was really making sense to Vega, it was all a bit too complicated for her simple soul, but then there was another voice and Vega turned to look. "That's Moseke!!" She said, in a conspiratorial tone to Chuckles. "I met 'er in Desnind when yer grandma were a twinkle in her Papa's eyes. Or three arcs ago ish."

Now, the thing was, Vega really didn't entirely understand what was happened. She thought that was Daia there, and Luther had been a bit of a plonker and tried to drain her essence, which would mean that they'd have an undead Immortal. So, she'd suggested that they get Luther and Daia back together, so to speak, so that Luther could put Daia's essence into her. Vega had been able to keep up with things up until that point, but now Daia and Luther were dancing, then Daia was sitting and Moseke was here and Vega was, quite frankly, somewhat confused. This wasn't helped by the sudden disappearance of Arlo. She felt out of her depth and just for the briefest second, she looked it.

Then, her chin jutted, her jaw clenched and she got on with it. Bombastic, unorthodox and downright rude. She could own all of those. Blunt to the point of cringe-worthy, outspoken and bad-tempered - those too were her and Vega knew it. But in her heart, Vega Lei'nox was a kind woman and so she moved, without hesitation or thought and she knelt next to Daia. Putting one hand on Daia's arm, and one on Moseke's Vega spoke in the soft tone which was her norm on the Wanderlust, or when in their camp together, just her and Arlo.

"I'm Faldrun's daughter, so he tells me. Raped my mother, he did. I've got his energy in me. An' the world needs dancin' an' what she stands for. Take what you need from me." She didn't know quite how Moseke was doing what she was doing, but Vega visualised as hard as she could, and followed any and all instruction given.

[Hart]

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Common sign"

extra line here
Hart hurt. He hurt. Despite that, he looked at Vega and he Wished.

Please, he thought, and then he was on the floor.

He didn't know he had fallen, and he didn't know what was happening. He didn't know Daia and Luther had danced into the Palace of Lions, or that the Palace had lit with color and the orchestra had changed its tune. He didn't know Arlo had vanished, or that Moseke was there.

He just... didn't know. His head had had enough of the pain and Hart was just... not there.

And then the room brimmed with absolute power.

And Hart found himself on the floor.

He hurt but he didn't, and while he was able he tried to prepare himself for the pain. He expected pain, a lot of it, and it was there. But it wasn't hurting him. He didn't understand. Hart sat up, and the headache should have sent him falling. But though he could feel the pain, it couldn't hurt him. He didn't know what was happening.

Then he felt the power in the room.

And he looked over and saw that Daia was alive and Moseke had appeared.

Moseke knelt by Daia. Their eyes were fixed upon each other's. Daia seemed afraid; she was afraid of dying. Moseke was determined to keep her alive. They were gripping hands, and power sang from them with more volume than any orchestra, any hundred orchestras, could ever make.

And they were Fracturing. The both of them.

No!

"Vega!" Hart said, but Vega was already at the immortals' side. She had a hand on each of them. Hart got to them all a trill later.

He put a hand on Moseke's, on Daia's shoulder. No, he thought again, and then, they cannot die.

He tried to give them his strength.

Hart called to mind the first time he had used each of his mortalborn abilities. There was the Wish in the maze, holding the dead man in his arms and making him whole and young and alive.

There was last Saun when Kemp had needed him, and he had walked through walls to protect both himself and the boy.

There was the mage burning and the certainty in him as he had gone for the stage and the dying girl upon it.

And there was so long ago now, when he hadn't understood who he was but had sensed another person, in the forest neaby, who was alone and afraid and on the brink of starvation.

He offered it all, the power he knew he harbored in each of his abilities. And then he offered his life.

He didn't quite understand what he was doing, but it was as simple as living, he saw. It was exceedingly simple to let Moseke and Daia have access to him, to all of him. Life wasn't something a person practiced or failed at. It just was. And so too, was this.

Moseke and Daia were of his Domain. They could have as much of him as was Needed.

Hart stood beside them, a hand on each of their shoulders, and felt an odd calm. "If you could help," he said politely to the dancers, "We could really use it."

[Luther]

So much had happened so quickly, Luther wasn't sure quite how to process all of it. Noila was Daia, not the Mistress, and he had freed her just like she had freed him. They were dancing, and she was magnificent. A goddess truly acting within her domain, Luther had never seen nor felt such celestial artistry as he did while she held him in her arms. A simple waltz he had learned as a child in the Empire, in Daia's hands it became a canvas to paint a masterpiece; Luther being but a one part of every brushstroke she made. Together, they brought light and life back into the dead palace. Two souls moving as one in a desperate attempt to find some sort peace, some fragile fractal of freedom in an afterlife neither one was content with. It was wonderful. Truly, unabashedly, and simply wonderful. She was wonderful.

It was easy to understand why her absence had left the world such a scarred and scattered place.

In this moment, in this gloriously peaceful moment where Luther could truly feel alive again, the ghost didn't see the Immortal of Dance. He saw another lost soul, more human than even he had been of late. She wasn't like the absent Raskalarn, the out-of-touch Peir or Pre, or the forlorn Vri. Filled with life, as Luther looked upon Daia he realized that she was just as much a victim of Idalos as he had been. That she deserved just as much a second-chance as he did.

Spinning into the corpse that had consumed him only moments ago, Luther was now alone in the darkness. Yet, from its inky depths came a motherly voice, strong and stubborn. A small light began to bloom from the blackness, an emerald lantern that burned away the pitch. Caught in its green gaze, Luther felt himself fill with lifeforce until it threatened to cut through the seams of his soul.

"You must help to hold her together. She needs everyone's help."

And so he would, unsure of everything around besides the need to force Daia from death. Not because some divine imperative demanded it from him, and not because the world deserved another Immortal, but because Luther had seen light in this celestial's soul. Because he believed Daia, at her core, was deserved another chance at life. Because if someone like him did, a poor farmboy who made as many mistakes in undeath as he did in life, Idalos knows that Daia deserved it ten-times over.

Gathering the lifeforce poured into, Luther willed the woman's fractures to fade. More than that, he would pour as much ectoplasm as he could into keeping Daia from disappearing again. Better to burn away to ash than continue as the mindless beast he was becoming before this. Luther would sever himself into pieces, cutting his soul down into a Whisper if it meant he could save the soul of this Immortal that shook him from his selfishness and gave him purpose once again.

"C'mon on Daia, we still have to finish our dance don't we? Stay with me! Stay! With! Me!"

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Maybe

And so, Vega, Hart, and Luther pumped their own lifeforces into Moseke and Daia. Hart tried to give more, but lifeforce was what was needed. The dancers, at Hart's request, gave their lifeforces as well, laying their hands on Hart and Vega to pass it through them. As the dancers gave their lifeforces, each of them fell to the floor, one by one, dead once more, gladly giving what they'd had to help their fallen Immortal. Their souls were taken to the Beneath once more, to await Judgement.

But Vega and Hart were Mortalborns. Effectively immortal, meaning they had an abundance of lifeforce of their own. Soon, the cracks in Daia began to retreat, the glowing wounds healing. Daia's fracturing retreated completely. Daia and Moseke activated a wish from Hart in this as well, all minds on one purpose, saving the lost Immortal. Luther's ectoplasm worked into the mix too, for it was not so different from lifeforce. It enveloped around the Life that Moseke had given to Daia, protecting it as well.

Moseke's fracturing did not abate, the arm that her Life had passed through glowing white hot. It became blinding, none in the room would be able to see a thing. Then there was the sound of cracking crystals. Followed by a shattering noise. The blinding white light was snuffed out. There was thump against the floor. As vision began to fade back in for people, the scene unfolded. Daia was sitting there upon the couch, a concerned look upon her face as she looked at those around her. But she was not fracturing or fractured.

Daia was back to life.

Luther had been expelled from her body, for a living Immortal's body would normally shred a ghost unintentionally. In expelling him, Daia had saved him. But Luther was still a ghost, standing there, his jacket on the couch next to Daia, much of his ectoplasm was stripped away. Hart and Vega both were there, over Moseke who'd slumped to the floor. Moseke's left arm had fractured away completely, and the woman was a shell of the Immortal she'd been. She now appeared old and wizened, frail, greatly weakened. An elderly woman in all ways.

And behind her, Hart and Vega were both greatly aged as well. They were mortalborns, so they would continue to live forever if their powers weren't completely pushed to the brink. But there were wrinkles upon faces, grey hairs that had not existed before. They had given so much of their lifeforce to try and bring Daia back. And they were successful, and this was the price paid.

Daia looked upon them all, with eyes filled with tears of gratitude and love. She stood up, still weak from having come back to life. She knelt down, helping the one armed elderly Moseke upright. "I'll get you home, to safety." Moseke tiredly leaned into the younger Immortal. Daia looked at the three mortals who had helped her, "I can never thank you enough for this. You've done the impossible. And I will do whatever I can to help you." She moved toward the room, carrying the tired Immortal, a doorway popping up, one made of plants and leaves and trees.

But a figure stood there in the way.

A man with red hair and a charming smile. Vega's father stepped through the doorway, standing before Daia. Her entire face lit up with pure love. He'd remembered her. He'd felt her return. She was overjoyed. And that joy spread through the space like wildfire. "Faldrun, I love you."

He reached out, touched her face with his hand, but with a voice that was icy, "I know."

Daia's eyes widened, flooding with tears as the man turned away, a smirk on his face. He looked at Vega, "Was it worth it, child mine?"

He disappeared once more, leaving Daia there, tears silently streaming down her face. But he'd made a mistake. When he'd touched her, she saw into him. Something only possible for Immortals to do to each other. She saw him handing the knife to a mortal, threatening them, demanding they betray Daia. And they did, by stabbing her through the heart. She saw the war the conflict that erupted in honor of her being slain. A war that greatly benefited the Immortal of Turmoil.

The woman shed no more tears, snarling through her lips. "He caused the war. All those people dead, because of him! He destroyed the world in my name!" Fury permeated the room, unbridled, unfiltered. "It is time to end this. Once and for all."

The Lioness looked at the three mortals there. Her glare was that of a wildcat, her voice a blade, though not directed at them, "I will see you soon. I need to marshal my strength, so that I can help you. The prices you've paid will not be forgotten." She slipped out the flowery door with Moseke. That door withered and died, just like Daia's love for Faldrun. And with the death that permeated this place, a door appeared in the wall, next to the fireplace, with a metal ring that served as knocker and handle.

The Door of Death has been found.

If the knocker was knocked, the door would open, and Number None would be standing there with a greeting, "Welcome, do come in. I hope you're here to help."

!	Message from: Aegis
	If you choose to go through the door, you will be transported to the Pure where you can post your arrival, thus meaning you post both here and there within the time limit. Questions are always welcome. I will post again on May 22nd.

[Hart]

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Common sign"

extra line here
When it was over Hart took his hands from Daia and Moseke, and trembling, he went and leaned against the fireplace. Despite the deaths of the dancers, despite the third Wish which should have dropped him, despite the hurt done to Moseke. He felt very calm.

He had Fractured thrice, though he could hardly feel the wounds. The first was in his back, where Daia had been stabbed. Another was in his front, in his chest, where she had been stabbed through. The third Fracture was a series of glowing silver cracks, making their way up from the tips of his fingers to the knuckles of both hands. He looked at his hands, which were unsteady, and let out a breath.

If he could have, he would have helped Moseke. But he couldn't. If he could have, he would have put his fist through Faldrun's face. But he had so little strength. If he could have, he would have tried to bring the dancers back. But there were some things that could not be undone.

There were some losses, he thought with a calm that was very unlike him, that a person had to take.

So he simply leaned against the fireplace until he felt sturdy enough. Then, though the Door of Death beckoned, he took long moments to settle each of the dancers into a comfortable position, as if they were asleep. Gently, he put them on their backs with their hands folded over their bellies, and if their eyes were open he closed them. It took a long, long while to do it, as there were so many of them, and he felt like he was going to drop. But it was something he had to do.

Only then did he turn, moving slowly, towards the Door.

If someone else had already knocked upon it, Hart would walk through the doorway, using the frame to lean against. If they had not yet knocked upon the Door of Death he would, and would give an exhausted nod to the figure who answered. Beyond was a circular stone room full of more doorways, and Hart wandered in.

Continued here.