Inside 71: All I Want For Thanksmas Is You

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

Nim does have to remember that while empowered, he is still very much vulnerable. His body can take more punishment than you'd expect (probably at least. he hasn't tested it but if he can lift giant weights without tearing muscles he must be durable) but he definitely isn't invulnerable like Chimera. Or Sphinx's Nemean sibling. Actually wait, Leona and the Nemean Lion were both Echidna's brood, and leonine, and invulnerable. Wouldn't that means Sphinx might have been? He can't remember any ancestral memories of it. He's pretty sure Oedipus strangled her. Well, he sure isn't testing that.
He does take a moment to peek down the alley. But sadly if there's anything too crazy he'll have to bolt. He isn't equipped to handle much.

[bc56]

Church of Binding Truth

"You can feel it too?" Sekhmet shouldn't seem so surprised. "I, uh, don't know if I have a choice." Iris seems so enthusiastic about this, she probably wouldn't let Sekhmet leave before the ritual is complete. "Don't look at her like that, you'll scare her!" She's saying to Gerald. "Okay... What was your name?" "Sekhmet." "Okay Sekhmet. Just come stand next to the altar and wear this." She holds out a holy icon of Fate. Sekhmet stands and puts the amulet on. Iris takes out a pair of silver tongs from a compartment in the altar and uses them to move a burning coal from one of the braziers lighting the room to a smaller brazier on the altar. The smell of burning incense fills the air. "Rose, come here. Take my hand. You too, Gerald." Gerald reluctantly does so.

[5a Violista]

In the Painting

Well, that is also a bust. This would have gone so much easier and better if she had some kind of hint about which one of them wants to kill her. Come on, future murderer. You need to be more forthright in your intentions. That way, she'll know which of them she has to be ready for. Then, maybe, she could enlist or trick one of the others into being nearby, at the very least. And it would have been so much better if she could trust Lilly more and did not need her to curtain with Edward tonight or whatever else those two are planning on doing.

Well,
at least she does have confirmation that Lilly is doing what she said she would. So, good.

June mixes some of the peas together with the potatoes and eats a couple bites.
Then, she pushes some things around but does not really eat any more.


[Some Street]

"I have always wanted to meet a necromancer," Obsidian says. "I mean, I met one, but that was not actually her job and even though she was really good at it, she didn't really look like she enjoyed it, so I thought that maybe she would not want to tell me how to do it. But! Yes, I have always wanted to meet one so they could tell me how they do it and then we can talk about all sorts of things."

The tree staircase actually goes into the tree, but because it was a gift to her, her player does not know what it is like inside. Likely some small rooms and such.

When complimented on the tree, she puts her hands on her hips, and looks up proudly. "Yup! It is pretty magnificent, isn't it. And it will continue on growing and getting bigger and even more impressive! Fitting for the secret base of the Dragon Thief of Hearts."

[Shadowcaller]

The chariot slowly picks up speed. It seems to be curving back around towards the place where it first entered the park.

"All what? Could you just show me the chart, and I'll show you where I fit in it?"
"Because like, of course we can be categorized. There's at least seven kinds. My group are all Outer or blank." It's probably worse than the imp imagined. You see, they have their own system of categorization!
"My parents aren't anything like me." Yone doesn't mind admitting that part. If these imps went to bother her parents...that would be hilarious.

Despite the fey's claims regarding categorization, the imp seems rather displeased, especially when they mention that their parents didn't look like them. "Seven..." He touches his forehead with his claw as he seems to consider this. "So there's subcategories right?" The imp lord raises his palm. "Actually, I got a simpler question for you. What's your classification based on? Is it magical abilities or something like that?"

[Rebonack]

[Church of Binding Truth]

Rose skips over to the alter and takes Iris' hand. If Brother Oyster is in hand-holding range she'll hold his hand, too. Rose feels very warm. Not 'burn you hand' sort of warm. More like 'I just picked up a mug of nice hot tea' sort of warm. This close she smells overwhelmingly of roses with just a hint of sulfur. Not sulfur dioxide, mind. More like the scent of hard boiled eggs. She's bouncing up and down a little, excited to find out what happens next. Honestly, she was always really fond of holy rituals in spite of her pact. The peace they brought, she could just close her eyes and get lost in that feeling of calm.

It's even better now since she doesn't have the looming specter of eternal damnation to worry about so much.

"Is there anything else I need to do?" Rose whispers to Sister Iris.

So exciting!


[Arkham Street]

Peeking down the alley, Nim will see a man recoiling from some horrible thing heaped on his doorstep. It looks like it might have been organic at some point, buts its shape is nearly annihilated by dusty black mold growth.

Gross.

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

Nim picks up a bottle and hurls it at the horror.

And another!

If the creature starts to move towards him, he'll bolt in the direction he was headed originally. He doesn't have anything to seriously fight a monster like that. But he can distract it enough to give the man time to blockade his door as Nim escapes.

[bc56]

In the Painting

June gets a worried look from Ambrose. "Is the food not to your liking, madam? Shall I get you something else." This causes Arthur to also look worried too. June better figure something out to say.

Church of Binding Truth

The three others hold hands in a circle around Sekhmet. "Just repeat after me." She begins an invocation, then Rose will repeat it, then Gerald. Then she begins the next line.

"We see what will be."
"This is your Chosen."
"Reveal your Truth to her."

A light from nowhere shines down on Sekhmet. Her eyes begin to glow in response. Slowly, her feet lift from the ground. Her hair and skirts billow in the wind, despite there being not even the slightest breeze. "Oh! Oh!" She stares blindly up and ahead.

[Rebonack]

[Church of Binding Truth]

Standing with the others, Rose repeats along with them!

"We see what will be."
"This is your Chosen."
"Reveal your Truth to her."

She's kind of surprised the gods from Sekhmet's world are listening to her at all.

Maybe, paradoxically, her connection to hell somehow made her fall under their watchful eye, too? If so, she's pretty okay with that.

Rose does her best not to bounce when Sekhmet begins glowing and floating.

Oh!

OOOOH!

This is so exciting!


[Arkham Street]

Nim throws a bottle at a mold covered corpse!

Then another!

Given that the corpse is dead it reacts to neither of these attacks.

Now, there ARE a lot of zombies now and again around Arkham Street, so that reaction isn't wholly unfounded.

"You there!" the man who was startled by the cadaver yells at Nim. "Do you know anything about this?"

He points accusingly at the rotting corpse.

[Deathkeeper]

Arkham Street

Nim shakes his head.
"I have no idea, sir. There's something foul in the air. Did that body just drop there? I thought it was a walker."

Nim has the sneaking suspicion that to banish this demon of Saera's it had to be around to be banished.
So it's entirely possible that the 'boon' granted to him was unleashing it upon the city.
Whoops.
Wow he needs to get to that library.

[bc56]

Church of Binding Truth

"Ohhhhh!" In a flash of light, Sekhmet disappears. Her dress drifts languidly down to the ground in the center of the circle. Iris and Gerald release Rose's hands, and each other. "Now we wait. About that crown?" "Right." Gerald puts on a pair of heavy white leather gloves adorned with holy symbols, opens the box inside the altar, and retrieves the fake crown. "You claimed it was a fake. Would you do the honors?" He holds it out to Rose. "She doesn't know our customs! It wouldn't be fair to make her do it!"

[Recaiden]

A chariot rolls by behind Yone, with one shouting imp trapped in seatbelts and several riding along as it zooms out of the park.

"Of course there's subcategories."
"Well, no, it's based on what concept they align with, really."

[Rebonack]

[Church of Binding Truth]

Rose gives a little startled, "Eep!" when Sekhmet vanishes all of a sudden. "W-where did she go? Is she going to be okay?" Rose asks, concern in her voice.

The last time Sekhmet joined her for some activities she ended up with magical exhaustion.

Hopefully something unpleasant doesn't happen AGAIN or Prumathe might start thinking Rose is bad nose.

Though...

Glancing at the two clergy they sure don't SEEM upset. Maybe people floating into a beam of light and then vanishing and leaving their clothing behind is a normal thing.

"Will Sekhmet get her dress back when she appears again she was really worried about being immodest in church," Rose points out. Always focusing on the important things, Rose. Good on you. But hey now a crown is being brandishes at her. She looks at it, confused. "Um... I can do 'the honors' but I don't know what they are? Would you tell me, please?" she says as she reaches out to take it.

What's with the crazy gloves, anyway?

Alexandria touched it with her hands and nothing weird happened.


[Arkham Street]

"I haven't the faintest idea! I just opened the door and, ugh! The smell!" the man says, recoiling and coughing. "It smells of low tide and dead fish. Dreadful!"

Then?

He slams the door shut!

He'll use his back door instead.

The corpse continues to lay there on the doorstep, being gross.

[Deathkeeper]

Arkham Street

Nim takes a look at the corpse. He doesn’t get too close. He does not want to breathe in any spores. Not at all. But he does take a quick peek into his bag to look at Saera.
”Sphinx of Black Quartz: now speak thy misjudged name.
...
Saera are you there? Does this look familiar to you? Just want to make sure this is just weird and your demon isn’t prowling the city now.”
He can only give it a cursory look under these conditions. If he had proper PPE he could do a much better examination. But he does not.

[bc56]

Church of Binding Truth

"We don't know where she went. This ritual has been passed down in our faith since time immemorial. It hasn't been performed in either of our lifetimes." There's a pause as Iris considers the next question. "We don't know. I didn't think she'd leave it behind. But wherever she's going should be completely safe. No Fated One has ever been recorded as having any negative effects from the ritual."

When Rose grabs the crown bare-handed, both Iris and Gerald recoil as if expecting something to happen. Handling cursed artifacts is not for the faint of heart or the ill-protected. "It's simple enough. Destroy it. Using mundane means that will leave remains to examine. The true crown is indestructible to all measures we know of."

[Rebonack]

[Church of Binding Truth]

"If she comes back naked she's going to be mortified," Rose points out.

Because, y'know.

Just sayin'!

And then on to the subject of magical crowns!

She raises an eyebrow when both clergy recoil. What are the freaking out about she touched the other one and everything was fine. She gives a little shrug at the request to destroy the crown and tosses it on the floor. "Okay!"

*Plunk!*

Then she spits in both hands, rubs them together, and clenches her hands as if miming out holding the haft of some large object above her right shoulder. There's a crackling sound, shortly followed by a rather absurdly large two handed maul made of dark green stone crystallizing into her grip. With hideous strength, she brings the hammer crashing down atop the crown. Given that this is the fake, it'll probably be smooshed pretty effectively.

*WHOMP!*


[Arkham Street]

The sphinx of black quartz is brandishes at the rot pile!

"Saera..." the statue says. This is followed by several seconds of silence. Then? "I can not see. I can only hear."

Oh.

Well.

That's pretty miserable, isn't it?

"What does it look like?"

[Deathkeeper]

Arkham Street

Oh. Right. Whoops.
For someone with magically enhanced intelligence Nim has been forgetting key information recently.
”Sorry. It’s a mass of black fungus. Almost dusty. Might have been a body or a pile of refuse before it suddenly appeared in this state on a man’s doorstep. I mistook it for one of those roving masses of carnivorous fungus at first.”
Quite alarming, those.

[bc56]

Church of Binding Truth

The fake crown is unceremoniously shattered into thousands of pieces. That proves it pretty conclusively. "Well. It must be recovered. What do you have to say for yourself, thief?" "Gerald, she wasn't herself then! She's promised to get it back! Let her be!" They're both interrupted by a flash of light. Sekhmet reappears, gently floating down from where she had disappeared. She doesn't regain her dress, but neither is she naked. She's clad in a simple gown made of the most beautiful white cloth, with a golden circlet upon her head. The holy symbol around her neck has been transmuted to the purest gold as well, and now it is double-sided, displaying Message's shooting star on one side, and Fate's threefold ring on the other. Cease your argument! Rose and I shall retrieve the missing crown from my mother's palace." Her voice echoes strangely in the room. It carries power with it. And never has Sekhmet looked more like a princess than this moment. The light fades from her eyes and she suddenly looks a little disoriented.

[Rebonack]

[Church of Binding Truth]

Rose is grinning, massive hammer-head resting on the floor, looking quite pleased with herself! Boy she sure showed that fake crown what's what!

But then she's getting scolded! Oh no!

Ducking her head slightly, Rose pulls her wings tighter around herself. "I'm sorry! I didn't have any choice. Sapphira told me to do things and I HAD to do them! But I'll get it back, I promise."

And then?

"Oh, yay, Sekhmet is back!" Rose rejoices briefly before pointing at the princess and smiling. "See! Just like she said. We're going to retrieve it!"

A beat.

A blink.

"Wait, we? You're coming too, Sekhmet? Are you sure? But you dad told me to make sure you stayed away from your mother," Rose objects, though not very forcefully. For some reason Rose feels really weird about straight up contradiction her Princess.


[Arkham Street]

"Dusty and black..." the statue mutters. "It is the devil's breath. It corrupts all that it touches. Breathing the dust that rises from it causes madness."

Oh.

That's fun.

Maybe don't get too-

-Nim will suddenly be struck by the realization that he has been rendered immune to the corruptive influence of the devil he's supposed to banish. That's probably the boon at work!

[bc56]

Church of Binding Truth

"Yes. I will come. If it is time for me to face my mother, so shall it be." She walks with grace and poise unlike what Rose has seen from her before to the door. "Thanks for helping! We'll have your crown soon!" Her old disposition is starting to show through again, but her princessly grace remains. Her voice is back to normal too. No supernatural air of power. But what happened to her?

[Rebonack]

[Church of Binding Truth]

What happened to her?

Well judging from her new holy symbol (which Rose recognizes thanks to Alexandria's research on the Church of Binding Truth) she must have had a conversation with Fate!

Things like that are usually pretty sacred so Rose decides not to press the issue at all. If Sekhmet wants to talk about it Rose will be more than happy to listen!

"Bye Sister Iris! By Brother Oyster! We'll be back soon!" Rose says, waving farewell to the clergy. "Tell that priestess we're sorry for scaring her!"

Rose really doesn't want to scare anyone.

She just wants to make friends!

Prancing away from the church, she'll ask Sekhmet, "You're going to tell Prumathe what we're planning on doing, right? We're not going right now?"

Or maybe they are? Rose just wants to make sure that Sekhmet considers how her husband might feel if she heads off to hell without telling him.

[bc56]

Church of Binding Truth

"We must go now." But Prumathe will not go uninformed. The Vox he got for Thanksmas chirps out a warning in Sekhmet's voice. "He should not come. No mortal could follow our path." Sekhmet's path takes them back to Brimstone Park. Wait, Sekhmet's not fireproof! How will she get to the portal?

[Rebonack]

[Brimstone Park]

"Oh, well, okay. If you say so, my Princess. You're the one in charge," Rose relents. She's thinking that Sekhmet MUST have gotten some instructions from Fate and that's why they have to go RIGHT NOW. And besides, Sekhmet is her Princess! Following her lead when she's being assertive and giving commands is pretty important, probably. Rose doesn't want to help JUST because Sekhmet is her Princess, though. Definitely not! Sekhmet is also her friend and saved her from meanness! She owns it to Sekhmet to help. And she promised Ananias that she would help Sekhmet, too.

All good reasons!

Not like the fear and cruelty that were motivating Alexandria to listen to Sapphira. Not even a LITTLE BIT!

"My portal to Lethal Lava Land is at the bottom of the caldera," Rose explains as they near the rim of the crater. "Just swim straight down, it's right in the middle."

Then she hops over the edge and splunks into the lava. Rose is, of course, completely unharmed. "I know what you mean about the path being pretty toasty. I wasn't thinking your husband should come too since I don't think he can swim in molten rock."

It's kind of a niche talent.

[bc56]

Brimstone Park

"Right." Oh yeah, the lava. Sekhmet wasn't thinking this through. Her body is decidedly not fireproof. But it doesn't have to not be. She's never been more in tune with her powers. She understands what she is now, more completely than ever before, and as a result, she knows. She was only not fireproof because she believed she wasn't. She steps into the lava with one foot. It's warm, but not painful. She dives the rest of the way in, exulting in her new ability. Her dress and jewelry, miraculously, are not at all harmed by this either.

[Rebonack]

[Brimstone Park]

Rose is utterly oblivious to Sekhmet's realizations. All she knows is that her friend is stepping into the lava pool with her to go on an adventure! It's been a really long time since Alexander did adventures. He retired from that stuff years ago and spent his time making potions and scrolls and looking for ways to free his soul from the clutches of an infernal pact.

And he found one!

It was very Buttery.

But now? To feel young again and to go on adventures with friends? Wowie! It's really making Rose feel alive! The excitement and the danger and the uncertainty and fate hanging in the balance! She really missed this stuff.

"Just follow me it isn't far," Rose says as she dives into the molten rock and swims down to the petrified, shattered threshold tree with the blazing portal in its roots.

Rose will head straight through!

Once she's on the other side in [Lethal Lava Land] Rose will wait for Sekhmet to follow her.

Are there any of those sad burned corpses nearby? Rose had been thinking about finding out whether they're meanies or whether they're people who were tricked like her.

[5a Violista]

[In the Painting]

Luckily!
This is where all her prior planning pays off!

...
June had hoped her planning would pay off with something actually useful, but. . .
"I'm still not feeling well," she claims. "Should be fine tomorrow. I'll eat more then." She moves a couple things on her plate around some more.

[bc56]

Lethal Lava Land Burning Depths

Sekhmet pops through the portal a moment after Rose. It's still kinda hard to keep up with the succubus nymph. Her dress billows around her in the lava.

Of course there are those corpses around, there always are. Sekhmet looks at them. "Those poor people..." She begins swimming for the surface. She knows where the palace is just as well as Rose does, if not better. She isn't interested in dallying with those souls.

In the Painting

"Yssa, if you like, you can go back to your room and rest." Arthur suggests. He seems a bit more compassionate towards her than he was the last time they encountered each other. Ambrose nods in agreement. "If you change your mind about the food, you can ring me."

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

Aaww...

It looks like the Princess is in a hurry. That makes sense. Getting the crown back is probably really important. "I'll try to help you guys later, okay?" Rose says to the lost souls before following Sekhmet up to the surface.

Oh hey right!

They've got wings this time haven't they?

This is going to make getting up to the palace waaaaaay easier. They can just flying up instead of being force to scale mountains via climbing!

Rose will spread her wings, give them a few flaps, and take off once she's free of the lava river.

The last time she was flying it was because of the wings Sapphira gave Alexandria. So... she could hunt Buttercups better. Which was terrible. Flying to go retrieve a magical artifact with her friend is WAY better of a thing to be using wings for, Rose thinks.

"There was hardly anyone around at all when I went to go find Charcoal," Rose says. "Hell seems awfully empty."

When she had visited the Nine Hells years ago as Alexander there were devils ALL OVER the place.

[bc56]

Burning Depths

Sekhmet and Rose wing their way out of the canyon and across the scorched plains of Hell. Sekhmet doesn't seem to understand Rose's comment. "Uh, it's really big. And, uh, devils are a, uh, small fraction of the population. And the, uh, damned tend not to, uh, do much. But, uh, I don't really know." Soon the mountains and the marble sphere of the palace grow near. Sekhmet slows down. "She's there. She knows we're coming."

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

"Dusty and black..." the statue mutters. "It is the devil's breath. It corrupts all that it touches. Breathing the dust that rises from it causes madness."

Oh.

That's fun.

Maybe don't get too-

-Nim will suddenly be struck by the realization that he has been rendered immune to the corruptive influence of the devil he's supposed to banish. That's probably the boon at work!

Arkham Street

"Ah. Thank you, Saera." It isn't clear if Nim is thanking her for the information or the boon.
Nim still doesn't want to touch the fungus as he doesn't want to risk picking up its spores and carrying them where it could affect someone else. But he can get closer to it to give it a proper examination before he heads out to the library.

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

Rose liked her name for this place more. It cut the existential horror a little bit.

"Yeah I noticed they just kind of floated around," Rose admits as they approach the palace. "I felt like I could wake them up. Or... absorb them? If they were bad people I feel like making them part of me would be really bad."

She doesn't want to be bad. She's doesn't. She doesn't! She's through with being bad and being beholden to monsters.

"Are they all down here for being terrible, awful meanies? Or...?" Rose asks a bit tentatively. But that question may have to wait.

Because they've arrived.

And the queen is waiting for them.

"I don't think Sapphira is going to be happy to see me," Rose says, eyeing the marble sphere. "I'm not happy about seeing her, either. But we have to do this, don't we? I'm not sure how much help I'll be."

The Queen can just obliterate Rose if she felt like it, couldn't she?


[Arkham Street]

Nim moves in closer!

From this distance Nim can tell that this was definitely probably a human previously. There's a degree of certitude to that uncertainty. This close he can ALSO see that there are dusty black footprints in the alley that look like they were left by this poor person when they were still ambulatory. They lead toward the bay.

Oooh.

Spooky!

What's he going to do next? He could indeed go check out the library and find out if he can find the name of this devil. Or he could follow the trail and see where it leads.

What's it going to be?