Seaside 6: Six at the Beach

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Oh no.

Selekhael blorped.

This is pretty bad. Especially because she's ravenous at the moment. The rate of devouring is going to accelerated just like it was the last time Selekhael experienced this, which means anyone nearby is going to be consecrated in pretty short order. Somewhere in the back of Zee's head there's the nagging idea that she might have just witnessed a time-loop being closed. Honestly this would all be way easier if she actually had a good grasp of this time travel nonsense. Did Selekhael's last feeding not count or something? Since it was several days in the future in spite of being just a few hours ago from Selekhael's perspective?

Ugh.

Stupid time travel.

She dumps the pilot on the ground before taking off toward the city proper.

"Stupid... rocket powered... robot head escape pods..." she grumbles to herself as she flaps as fast as she can. Hopefully one of the other robots doesn't start shooting at her on the way in with its REALLY FANCY TARGETING SYSTEM.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
Across the city, Selekhael pounces on the robot that's been firing on her. Her huge claws tear into its armor as it struggles to keep balance and its materials are quickly consumed. One of the other mechs opens fire on her as well, launching a barrage of green laser beams and a swarm of guided missiles into her back. She roars.

Meanwhile, Zee is not undetected. The smallest mech swivels to face her, firing an electric blue blast of charged particles in her direction, followed by a quartet of short-range unguided missiles. One thing is sure, that targeting system is just as good as advertised.

[Ironsmith]

Codebreaker's Home

CB snickers and hands the coin over to Kyrie.
"Alright, then. That said, this belongs to you and Owena. She earned it, it's yours. I'm just gonna make it more what you deserve. Though for my protection, this is a freak accident and you were alone when it happened." Codebreaker winks, then focuses his eyes one the gold coin. He lets his focus slip, his flawed perception become reality.
The coin in Kyrie's hand becomes an order of magnitude larger until he's basically holding a solid gold discus. It would have similarly grown his hand if he wasn't immune to Codebreaker's magic.
"There. One freak accident I had nothing to do with. Make sure you hide it on the way out. And make sure someone hits it with a disenchantment before you spend it, just to be safe."

[Codebreaker's Home]

Kyrie stares wide-eyed at the disc, summoning nearly all the strength in his wrist to avoid dropping the thing. He gives Codebreaker an incredulous look, but goes to tuck the coin under his shirt anyway. "I'm not entirely certain how we're meant to spend it, except maybe in a market for giants, but I appreciate the gift." He shuffles and tries to adjust for the oversized currency. "Perhaps if it were melted down for materials?"

"You're not doing that on your own!"

"Wasn't planning on it!"

"Yes you were!"

Elster
"You haven't especially steered me right either," Diablo counters.
But then the ship lurches. "I know that's not supposed to happen." He raises his pistol again, aiming at the door. "Any idea what's going on?"

[Elster]

"Well, we've stopped, obviously." Duffle begins, pulling himself up from his chair. "Can't say why, exactly. Let me check with forty-seven." He taps his communicator. "Forty-seven, status report."

...Nothing.

"Forty-seven, status report. Forty-seven, respond."

Still nothing.

"All units, respond."

Silence.

"...Well, that can't be good." Duffle mutters, switching off the communicator.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

No no no no bad.

Remember how Zee was saying that Selekhael's human parts are way more fragile and to be careful?

Yeah, that applies to Zee as well.

As the robot is lining up its shot Zee blorplessly unfolds if only because it was a controlled process that she's pretty familiar with. The seraphim hits the ground, one claw hoof root digging into the earth as a pivot allowing her to spin around to face the smaller mech.

Then her horns, wings, and back all rearrange around that black hole normally hovering in her halo-like horns. A powerful wind begins blowing toward her as dirt, rocks, air, sod, several moles, a coherent particle beam, several rockets (which promptly explode), and one very unfortunate badger are all pulled into the singularity shortly before the limbs on her back all reconfigure into...

Wow.

That is a really floofing big gun.

There's a sound like a dying star's last gasp a plank second before a chunk of neutronium consisting of most of the mass Yezekiel just hoovered up is accelerated towards the robot at a pretty frightening velocity.

That's... probably overkill.

But Yezekiel is kind of panicking at the moment.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

"Of course it's not good as an actual coin anymore. It's a couple pounds of pure gold, though. You melt it down, it'll cover your needs. I can't do that more than once, though. People find out I can do that, I'm toast. So like I said, freak accident."
Of course CB could have just NOT done it, but then that puts Kyrie at risk of getting evicted. And he can't sit by with that.

[Aurora Alchemi]

Romantic Dinner

Ukry nods in response to Reinholdt, glad that for the moment he had decided to move past the more curse tainted side of the witch's dinner activities. "Fish... There is a treat we seldom have. The occasional river fish, brought by a simple country folk, to be sure... But since we seldom lived near the sea, we didn't have as much as many others. Mostly dried, or cured fish, come in amongst the trade lines. Once we had moved into more clerical habits, the offerings and habit meals were seldom fish either, as it seems most of the followers of the goddess of valor seemed to prefer livestock and fowl." The witch gently takes a few bites of food. "You'll have to show us all the wonders of seafood then... Especially shellfish, we could count the number of times we've had that delicacy on several hands." There is a hint of sadness there, as if there had been opertunities to have shellfish in the past, but they had passed by with too little, or other issues came up that had taken president. At least, for now, it was a new experience that Reinholdt might be able to provide the witch.

As Reinholdt returns with the ritual cup, Ukry raises a slightly confused eyebrow. It... wasn't what the witch was referring to at all, but it was at least something to share. Swallowing the bite of potatoes, the witch takes hold of the cup, swirling and smelling the bouquet of the drink. "Dark, foreboding... chilly to the core... but not in a way that drives you to run. Should we be taking a hint?" The witch gives a little giggle, then raises the glass, soft sparkles of magic falling around the pair. "A quick toast, then... To the future, to children.... and to us. All of us." The witch softly offers Reinholdt the first drink, making it clear that they are including Reinholdt in the toast. It's a little step, but a loving one indeed. Taking their own sip from the glass, they finish with a soft kiss, letting the bite of the cool drink linger on Reinholdt's cheek. Of course, as the cat's chair draws closer, so too does the witch's, and what a fitting image it was to have the pair so close.

"Perhaps. Moderation is important, but we don't think that, even given time as great as our own, you would get to the point where you could cause too terrible an end. It is an art, and without a pair of Lyrri horns to focus touching that weave, you would be learning to paint on that canvas blind." Ukry pauses softly, frowning for a moment at another slip up, another hint of history that falls through the cracks of a broken mind that finally has found a place where it might feel at ease. "But if it continues to worry you, we can simply offer to make you artifacts, so that your access to that world is limited strictly by rules. After all, with such an admirable goal, perhaps we wouldn't mind helping you somewhat in your paths." Another pause, but this time one that draws a look that could remind one of a mother looking at a child having a tantrum. Someone, or several someones, somewhere nearby, was pulling the strings of the weave. And not in precise, well mannered ways. It didn't all feel familiar, but... Ukry pushed that thought into the backburners, not letting the obtrusion ruin the dinner with Reinholdt. "Besides... don't look so glum. You are already helping to make our world better right now. And that counts for something... heh, we do wonder what amount of absolution would be granted for turning a demonic beast as old as we, even temporarily, away from the dark..." Something in the witch's words is soft and tender, a reminder that all that consider's itself evil is not lost.

As Reinholdt takes the advantage and knits his fingers into Ukry's, the witch feels the world drop out from around them. For a moment, the whole building hums and crackles, brilliant rainbows flittering and glistening off every surface, as if a magical oil sheen covers every surface. The scintillating, soft magic of emotions seems to blanket the world in sanctity, and for a few brief moments, everything in the room feels good. But more than good, it felt immortal, immovable, untouchable, in all the most quiet and understated ways. Not like a great power exerting itself, but rather like the world respecting a moment that was powerful, too sacred to be touched. "Oh" The response is breathless, airy as the witch grips at the hand, falling softly like a leaf in autumn against this evening's partner. In that moment, there is no witch, but simply a heartbroken maiden who has found a new place of belonging.

Then the tug of the tapestry unravelling, strings of the world pulled so taut that they begin to break tug Ukry back to earth, to the place where they are an it, where the world is cruel, and where histories have long since etched sin into this witch's flesh. The pull down is rough enough to cause a pair of inky black tears to fall from the cursed creature's eyes. To have felt something so wonderful, then be ripped from it and brought back to reality... It, unlike many other things, truly caused Ukry pain. The witch refused to release Reinholdt's hand, however, knowing that the lover was not the reason for the rude interruption. "T-thank you... We.. we are not really that beautiful, though..."

The witch's free hand grips, pulling the strings of the weave across a great distance, for a moment, the bubble of reality warping softly, just to send a message to a group panicking. "Calm yourself. Consider the consequences of your actions. We cannot reweave what you rip away from the tapestry in haste."

[bc56]

Lunch Time
That's a big gun, and a big bullet. Half the mech is blown away in an instant, and the projectile continues on its way, plowing through several buildings that were behind the target. Oops.

Selekhael smashes the gunner mech to the ground and drives her talons through its chest. She has no knowledge of just how risky that is: fusion reactors are not something she's familiar with. However, it seems to permanently incapacitate the mech, so we'll talk about the risk of radiation and nuclear meltdown later. She pounces towards the last remaining mech, which is already beginning to retreat, then she stops and runs as quickly as she can back towards Zee.

>Selekhael: Help what do I do what do I do?

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Wait buildings behind-

Had she completely misread the layout? Zee thought the little mech was on a hill outside of the town looking for a good shot. Had it moved closer? Ugh everything is so jumbled right now, the worldlines are all frayed and tangled. It's GOT to be the time travel. She just isn't equipped to deal with this sort of nonsense.

Oh no. No no does that mean she's in the town?

Are there people in her aura of consecration?

She casts her gaze around and before long it falls on a small group of people watching her, tears of awe in their eyes.

The seraphim feels her stomach drop.

Great.

It hasn't been long, though. A few seconds? This shouldn't be nearly as bad as it could be.

She folds in on herself as quickly as she can, leaving just an unassuming human woman in her place. "Hey hey, listen, it isn't safe to be here right now. Tell everyone you can to stay away from the big cat. Everything is going to be fine, alright?"

The people look pretty uncertain, but Zee is sounding pretty authoritative to them right now.

That done, she takes off in a run toward Selekhael. It isn't long before she finds her right in the middle of town.

Of course that's where the robot dumped her, isn't it?

"Selekhael! We need to get you out of here. Just fly as straight up as best you can and land a ways out of town, okay? Find a good place to hunker down and eat for a bit. It'll make sense once you're-

"Calm yourself. Consider the consequences of your actions. We cannot reweave what you rip away from the tapestry in haste."

"Yes, thank you talking bubble I'm working on that. -doing it. Just make sure no one is nearby, okay? I need to take care of these wrecked robots before they blows up."

Hopefully Selekhael listens.

Hopefully more nonsense doesn't decide to intervene and make everything worse.

She doesn't have access to the Energy Sphere or the Chaos Sphere, either of which would make it much easier to contain the radiation. She'll just have to make do with what she's got.

"Everyone, please, back away. These machines are dangerous even when they're damaged and I need to dispose of them," Zee calls out. They might not listen, though. They might be too busy staring at Selekhael.

[bc56]

Elster
"I, for one, don't intend to stay here and wait for whatever happened to reach us. You coming?" It doesn't matter whether Diablo can trust Duffle if they're both in danger. And maybe they aren't, or maybe it's a ploy, but Duffle seemed genuinely surprised and worried.

Lunch Time
Selekhael is a giant monster, everyone is staring at her, even the ones who aren't in her aura and getting brainwashed. This includes one panicked and fleeing mech pilot, who sees her flapping her way out of town and assumes she's coming after her. She needs to bring the monster down. She takes aim.
Another barrage of lasers blasts into Selekhael's wing. With a birdlike screech, she falters, then falls, crashing hard into the outskirts of town. The mech takes this moment to make its escape, sprinting out of town towards the hills.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Okay.

Okay okay Zee can work with this.

>Yezekiel: You just crashed at the edge of town, right? You can probably just leg it from there.
>Yezekiel: Your aura of consecration is normally about four times your body length but since you just blorped it'll be about four times bigger until you finish feeding.
>Yezekiel: Keep moving until you're a safe distance from the town, if you stay in one place too long you'll dig in and you don't want that to happen when there are people nearby.

Selekhael probably experienced that already when she had her 'oops' at Redcliff. Just sort of sink partly into the ground and then it feels like everything around her is part of her. Which is sort of is. But this time around she has someone talking her through the experience, trying to calm her down and direct her actions.

Hopefully that helps a bit.

Right. Okay. Possibly going to explode soon robot.

These people already have a shard of Selekhael in their minds so that actually helps. If they have Selekhael then they don't have room for Yezekiel. Which means it is relatively safe for her.

The seraphim unfolds again in all her luminous glory, gently scooting someone who was standing a little too close away with a wing tip.

"Do not be afraid," she reassures them as the dragontreedeerblackhole moves to put one of her front hoovesclawsroots on the downed robot. She dips her head, jaws yawning wide, and moves to rip out its fusion core and swallow the thing whole. She already has a star for a heart, so she isn't terribly concerned on that front. "These machines bleed a poisonous light. I will consume it to spare you from its deadly touch. Do not approach me too closely; my splendor is too great for you to contain."

[Morty]

[Shore of a Distant Island]

"It's looking for its mother," Rachel says as she catches up and catches her breath. This is going to be one of those leg days, isn't it? She'll hang back a little bit to see if the monk can keep any of this from escalating. Don't want the monster to feel cornered.

When Calm Reed and Rachel begin discussing, the monster turns its head towards them. "Mot-her?" It's not clear if it is replying to Calm Reed, or to Rachel's repetition of the word. The dog keeps barking, as much at the women as the monster, before fleeing and hiding in its little doghouse - though that doesn't mean it falls silent. "Fifi! What are you barking at?", a female voice calls from the house. The on-going racket has alerted the houseowners.

"I don't know where your mother is, but we can try finding her. Come!" Calm Reed says. She doubts the creature can understand her, but hopefully the tone of her voice will encourage it to follow her. And get away from inhabited areas.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
Selekhael gets up and starts limping away from town.

>Selekhael: How far is far enough? I think I can drift a good way, but I'm not going to be able to fly or walk far.

She does as she said, disappearing from view and hopefully appearing a very long distance away. Hopefully.

Meanwhile, one giant robot is eaten. That should keep any radiation from hurting passerby. On the other hand, the people in the area who aren't already eaten by Selekhael are now being eaten by Yezekiel. This is going to be a very determined and forgiving town by the end of the day.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Yezekiel is actually counting on the fact that Selekhael is in active feeding mode at the moment. The ophanim's reach is massive at the moment. Zee really doesn't want to explain yet that a good portion of the town has a splinter of Selekhael in their minds yet. She's probably going to be doing that while shooing away anyone who tries to get too close once Selekhael digs in.

No reason to let that splinter get worse.

>Yezekiel: Just move away as far as you can until you dig in. You won't be able to stop yourself from kicking into sanctification mode so just do your best.

Her work done here, Zee hunkers down for a moment before launching herself skyward. How much if any of that mech she blasted is left? Is she going to have to snack on that one, too?

She makes sure to position herself high keep her aura of consecration wholly in the air. She's also trying really hard not to think about that person who got caught within the reach of Winds of Obliteration.

Zee isn't sure what she should do about him yet.

Whoopsies.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
There's fragments of that mech left. It got blasted apart pretty hard by the impact. Zee probably needs to spend some time hoovering up the bits of irradiated debris that are left over.
Meanwhile, Selekhael lies down in a valley a short distance outside of town and begins to feed in earnest.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Oh wow yeah.

Yezekiel really didn't have to clobber that thing nearly as hard as she did.

This is the problem when you're dealing with a foe that you haven't ever encountered before in a place as wildly divergent as the Nexus.

How much oomph is enough oomph?

It would appear as though popping Winds of Obliteration was definitely overkill.

The debris are spread over too wide of an area for the seraphim to trundle around snuffling them up, so instead she reaches out and evokes the Matter Sphere to transmute the radioactive debris into stable atoms. Not really the best solution since she's pretty sure she didn't get all of it but she can go over the area in greater detail once the current crisis is over. Such as?

Drifting so she can see inside those buildings her shell blew through. The iron sabot largely vaporized along with most of the mech it impacted but the neutronium dart continued on its path without interruption. Zee is really hoping no one was in the rooms it pierced through given the amount of force it's able to impact with. Spraying the inside of a room with vaporized wood and plaster really isn't great for anyone.

>Yezekiel: I'll be over there with you as soon as I can, Selekhael, are you doing okay?

Okay is definitely a word that could be used to describe how Selekhael is doing.

Maybe not the most accurate word, but still a word.

She sort of just... Sinks into that heavenly sponge-like material that's replacing her surroundings, her legs and belly merging into as if she's part of the landscape. Tendrils of transformation reach out from her, the starry firmament replacing earth and living aether replacing the air. She can feel... everything within the range of her aura, as if it were all part of her. Every speck of dirt, every atom of air, every blade of grass, every living thing, they all breath in tune with her for they are an extension of her purpose. And once everything around her has been replaced with a glittering star-field then the the changes begin in earnest. Where once there were trees and shrubs and grasses celestial corals begin to grow, domes and branches and pillars and fans and thickets and stranger shapes still. Great rings of immaculate white limestone rise, half buried in the earth. Some simply hanging upon nothing, ominous in their perfection. Much of the animal life is heavily altered, taking the form of what might conceivably be called a 'griffin' if a griffin were merely the confluence of an eagle and a lion with no thought given to how those aspects might combine in a myriad of ways.

And, of course, the Shrine itself will begin to assemble, an echo of Selekhael's conception of holiness and sanctity. A reflection of who and what she is.

All of this takes time.

But time is a strange thing withing the sanctuary of an ophanim.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
"Hmmnmmpf..." Selekhael just rolls over in her earthy bed without bothering to reply to the message.
Near her head, a structure is forming. White limestone walls supported by rings of black aether fuse together into a roughly dome-shaped building. More of them spiral up into something like a steeple, pointing into the sky. Outside the buding, polyps begin blossoming from the rocks in a myriad of brilliant colors and spreading out in a wide circle around the little chapel. Broad paths cut their way through the colorful growth. In a clearing near the entrance, a roughly humanoid form of stone pushes its way out of the ground and begins to define itself. It becomes a statue of a woman with a lion's head and eagle's wings, familiar to anyone who had seen Selekhael during her currently past visit to Redcliff (as opposed to her currently future one which is still a few days out). The limestone angel has her arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture.

Selekhael is just content to remain merged with the ground in the meantime. The growth of the church is not lost on her, but it's not as important right now.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Hmmmmmf seems about right.

Zee knows from experience that it's easy to get kind of drowsy and just... let the whole sanctifying process do its thing. Doze off a bit and not worry about it. A good enough time to sleep and let the body use the resources its pulling in to repair, recuperate, and grow.

However!

One of them needs to remain alert.

The seraphim lands near the edge of Selekhael's sanctuary and begins pacing away, tracing an imaginary line through the earth as she calls forth both Matter and Shape this time, forging a dense wall of all the way around the ophanim's garden and... huh. And then some. Like a massive number eight walling off the ophanim's feeding grounds but also another equally large circular area? What exactly is Yezekiel up to?

Pretty simple, really. She touched more than a few people in that village herself. Not as many as Selekhael, but still more than would have been ideal. Which would have been none. And she knows from past experience that giving people something a little more concrete to focus on is better than allowing them to go wild with her Path.

To that end?

Yezekiel likewise takes root, the sea of glass taking shape around her; silvery marrow filled with golden light as clear as crystal. Air shimmering prismatic like liquid sunlight. Shrubs grow strange and branching, antler like, with orbs of stellar darkness rimed in starlight hanging between the horns like fruits without concern or notice of the world's pull. Trees grow massive beyond measure, great pillars of rusty red, fibrous bark and great sheets of needles that flash in the sun like peacock feathers. Alien shapes, cervine and draconic, prance through the shadows of the canopy. Roots spread across the sea of glass, forming great whorls and tessellating patterns of wood and living light. Before her a Shrine pushes forth from the earth, a living cathedral of trees like pillars supporting a canopy of leafy wings.

Thankfully the seraphim wasn't particularly injured in exchange with the mechs and so she isn't quite as tempted to nod off.

Because she has something important to see to.

Namely the wooden egg that sprouts from the ground in front of her, splitting open to reveal a jet black seraph molded in her image.

The creature blinks silvery-white eyes that burn like stars.

"What."

"Rejoice! You have been chosen for apotheosis, my child," Yezekiel intones regally, sitting tall and spreading her wings wide.

The seraph eyes her skeptically. "You sucked me up with that big black whirlpool on accident, didn't you?"

"Mmmaaa- okay, yes, that was totally on accident. I didn't see you down there behind that rock, sorry," Zee replies, flashing a sheepish smile.

[Reinholdt]

[Shore of a Distant Island]

"Maybe show us where you came from?" Rachel suggests softly, slightly concerned about having to explain why they were hanging around someone's yard. But if the creature retraced its steps, maybe it would lead to this thing's mother.

[Romantic Dinner]

Reinholdt considers for a moment, not the issue of fish. That would be easy enough to handle. But rather something else that seems to have come up here and there. "So, who is this goddess of valor exactly and why are you getting her offerings?" Last he heard, Ukry was a witch, not a goddess! And she seemed to have some disdain for gods and goddesses in general. "Is she the one you dethroned? Did no one hear about this fact or... what?" You generally don't keep giving offerings to someone who has lost their power.

Rein drinks first, a little shiver running through him as he accepts the toast. He imagines Ukry gave it to him first to ensure it wasn't poisoned, which is fair. Not that he thinks most poisons would work against them anyways. "All of the other house specialties have unique... side effects let's just say. This is the only drink Black Dragon Den specialized in that was honestly just a drink." Even if it was a chilling and foreboding one.

Ukry pushes a little on the learning to weave, accompanied by a look that reminded Reinholdt of some sort of... scolding? Was he being scolded for daring to turn them down? Ukry didn't know Rein! Not at the level they thought they did. And the witch definitely wasn't Rein's real mom! It's just... Ukry's words didn't much match up to the reproachful look. Still, it was a little hard not to get defensive. "Admirable goal?! I..." Rein closes his eyes for a moment and takes a breath. "I... can't pursue that again. I won't. I'm sorry. I'm, uh, retired from all that really. Good, evil, absolution, I'm not a part of that endless cycle anymore. My only goal now is making it through one day at a time, and maybe seducing lonely witches." Rein gives a half smile. Absolution... hah. The idea would be laughable if it weren't so repulsive. So foreign.

"I'm sorry you can't share that part of you with me, but I am genuinely glad to have made you happy. To have made your world a little brighter." It wasn't hard to tell. Ukry's practically radiating warm colors. They even seems to be crying a little. Rein hopes those are happy tears of some sort of relief or release. Seems like they have a lot to release. Reinholdt performs the unprecedented move of squeezing Ukry's hand fondly. "I'll stick with doing that, that sound good?" He doubts Ukry has any particular protests, but just in case they're thinking about something else, something more, Rein turns to her and moves in to press his lips to hers and lets it linger. This was his path now and he'd follow it to the end.

A slow release and pull back to stare into Ukry's eyes with a smile comes shortly after. "We're letting the food get cold," Rein points out softly, having gotten so easily distracted by the witch.

[Ironsmith]

Codebreaker's Home

"Of course it's not good as an actual coin anymore. It's a couple pounds of pure gold, though. You melt it down, it'll cover your needs. I can't do that more than once, though. People find out I can do that, I'm toast. So like I said, freak accident."
Of course CB could have just NOT done it, but then that puts Kyrie at risk of getting evicted. And he can't sit by with that.

[Codebreaker's Home]

"Well, good reason to ensure nobody finds out, then." Kyrie gives Codebreaker a grateful little nod. "I'll slice it up when we get home, and then I can take the pieces to be melted individually. That should make it a little more difficult to tell where it came from."

Elster
"I, for one, don't intend to stay here and wait for whatever happened to reach us. You coming?" It doesn't matter whether Diablo can trust Duffle if they're both in danger. And maybe they aren't, or maybe it's a ploy, but Duffle seemed genuinely surprised and worried.

[Elster]

"This is the most heavily-reinforced section of the ship by far." Duffle points out. "If something got on board, this is the safest place to be. Nothing's getting in here."

If Diablo tries the door, he's going to see a fault in that design. It's locked, magnetically, and doesn't so much as budge when he tries to push it open.

It seems they're not going to get out very easily, either.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
After some time, a large crowd has gathered outside the walls of Selekhael's domain (and a smaller one outside Yezekiel's). Comprising a large number of villagers and one apologetic MechWarrior, the assembled worshippers are eager to get in and see their goddesses up close. Unfortunately, the walls are in the way, affording the two of them privacy for a bit longer.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

It is probably worth noting that these people are much better off than those who will be touched by Selekhael in Redcliff five days hence. Mostly because those people got caught up in Selekhael's area of sanctification rather than the lesser aura of consecration these villagers were where touched by. To them Selekhael's Path (and Yezekiel's for that matter) will feel more like a conscience. A quiet, gentle nudge to do the Correct thing. Quite unlike those at Redcliff who were/will be saddled with mutations and a consuming zeal for Selekhael's Path.

Still...

The call of a feeding empyrean when a shard is stuck in one's mind is a difficult siren's song to ignore.

And so the crowd gathers.

Which is what Zee anticipated. Which is why she rose the wall.

Once they're both done eating Zee plans on making a gate at each of the four compass points. But for now the wall stands sealed.

Also for now?

"Okay so why did you bring me back?" the onyx seraph asks. "I'm not upset, just curious. There's a reason you made me, right?"

"Right," Yezekiel confirms. "And not just because I felt bad about swallowing you whole, which I do. Feel bad, I mean. You're from the village, right?"

The seraph nods. "I wanted to get a better look at the iron giants but that didn't work out so well."

"Good. Stick with your family. Keep an eye on things here for me. Make sure the people here don't get too off the rails with their worship, okay? You'll have a clearer picture of what I'm about than they do. If things start getting concerning call me and Selekhael and we'll pay a visit. Does that sound okay?"

"Okay I... alright I can do that. Why do I have tiny wings for ears?" Onyx asks.

That gets a snort out of Zee. "It's a seraphim thing. You can use them to cover your face."

Onyx flaps said wing ears a few times and they flop over his face. "...but why, though?"

****

Once Selekhael rouses she'll find Zee in human-shape nearby, sitting on the steps to Selekhael's shrine. Also nearby is a currently human-looking Onyx. He has the look of the villagers and appears to be fourteen or fi years old. The young seraph is busy poking at the polyps nearby, watching them zoop! back into their calcareous skeletons when touched.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
*Yawn* Selekhael stretches and rises out of the earth on her four legs. "Uh, hi Zee, and, uh..." She doesn't recognize Onyx. She stretches, a very catlike motion, and then folds herself down into her human shape (she missed her tail again). "That was a nice nap. Uh, what's going on?"

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Zee cracks half a smile as Selekhael awakens. "Missed the tail again," she helpfully points out. "Lots going on! Good news and bad news rundown time. So! Good news, I think I've figured out what causes your oops in five days. Also good news, we ran the raiders off. Bad news, the oops is caused by you placing some minor to moderate consecration in the minds of the villagers here. So they're feeding those hopes and dreams to both you-you and past-present-you, which causes past-future you to BLORP! a few days from now. I caught a few people in my consecration as well."

"Also she swallowed me with a black hole," Onyx points out, looking up from the polyps.

"On accident," Zee is quick to clarify.

"Sure, on accident. I don't mind too much, this is all really neat," the lad admits, poking at another polyp and causing it to zoop! like its nearby fellows. "Flying's great. That funny sideways dance thing? Great too. And I can still look like I did so no one has to know, right?"

"Someone will probably notice eventually, but otherwise right," Zee confirms.

Then points away.

"Also? We've got a pair of sanctuaries in this gully now. Also the townspeople want to come in and chat."

Fun!

[bc56]

Lunch Time
"Uh, they are? Is it safe to let them in to this... Uh, garden?" Selekhael gets a good look at her surroundings for the first time. "Oh my stars, is this a temple to, uh, me?" She gestures at the angelic statue, "Do I really look like that?" The likeness is spot on, but the expression depicted is much more collected, calm, and self-assured than Selekhael has ever been. "Uh, I'm not a goddess, I'm just a barmaid. An, uh, apprentice barmaid." She's panicking much more about being worshipped than she is about the time loop, mostly because it hasn't really registered to her that that's what's happened. She's distracted.

[Deathkeeper]

[Codebreaker's Home]

"Well, good reason to ensure nobody finds out, then." Kyrie gives Codebreaker a grateful little nod. "I'll slice it up when we get home, and then I can take the pieces to be melted individually. That should make it a little more difficult to tell where it came from."

Codebreaker's Home

CB is honestly surprised that Kyrie doesn't seem to be resisting this act of generosity like the others. Perhaps the circumstance changes how he feels about it? That is the reason Codebreaker insisted on using money that already belonged to them after all. Hopefully Owena doesn't have any protests when she actually looks in.
"Good!" he looks about the room.
"...so what now?"

[bc56]

Elster
"I, for one, do not want to be trapped in this room waiting for death to come," Diablo says, jiggling the handle again, "If it's more secure, that just means we wait longer. Got a way to break this lock?" He's not worried about something getting onto the ship. He's already suspicious of the robots, he's worried they might be behind it. There's a reason his 'mech is wired so that it requires a pilot to move and shoot: if it could do those things on its own, it could be hacked.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Spontaneously growing temples are pretty distracting, all things considered.

"They'll be safe. Safeish? There's a bunch of wildlife in here that looks like someone was trying to make a griffin while having zero context for what a griffin is," Zee notes, waving at several nearby amalgamated organisms that were probably mice previously. They aren't that big and seem to be pretty busy stalking each other. "I guess it's about as safe as anywhere else in the Nexus. Just strange. Like... anywhere else in the Nexus."

That's fair.

Then Zee mostly manages to stifle a laugh. "Selekhael. Your name. The Mighty Forgives Abundantly, right? But what else does Mighty mean?"

What else does it mean, Selekhael?

"It's a lot to get use to. I try to get people to think of it like... Don't focus on me specifically. Focus on the Path. Don't worship Yezekiel because that's the way to deranged cults. Instead, focus on living to strengthen and encourage," Zee explains. "Make it clear to them that it isn't about you, it's about being a merciful, forgiving person. Live to lighten the burdens of others."

Onyx seems more interested in the novelty of these new experiences more so than theological nonsense.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
"Oh, stars, I need to give a speech don't I? And, uh, hang around to make sure nothing goes wrong? I, uh, don't know if I can do this. I can barely string, uh, a sentence together." She shudders. Even angels fear public speaking. "Uh, I guess let them in and I'll be inside getting changed?" She just looks like a human right now (with a tail she still hasn't removed). She should be all dressed up in, uh, angelic form when she speaks to them, right?

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

"I would say approach this in whatever way feels Correct to you. The first time I did the big speech thing it felt almost like the words were just coming to me. Didn't really think, just did. Your insecurities are born of who you once were, oh the life you lived before the Nexus. Those experiences are still part of you, but they don't have to define you."

There's a steely look in Zee's eyes.

"Carve out your own Path. Be who you're meant to be. And even if you can't believe in yourself, believe in the people who believe in you."

Yezekiel's rousing speech fills Selekhael with Determination.

"You go ahead and get ready," Zee says, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. "I'll let the supplicants in. And I'll get them calmed down a bit since this whole mess has been pretty stressful for everyone."

And off she goes!

"Good luck Selekhael!" Onyx, who has no Path of his own yet, hurries after Zee. "Hey Mother? I should go find my mom and dad, right?"

"Yep! Try to be subtle about it. This will probably work better if they don't immediately know about apotheosis. Too much weird at a time. Wait until Selekhael is done at least. And, uh, maybe leave off the dying part."

Time to change Selekhael!

Within fifteen minutes or so she'll be able to hear the crowd murmuring outside her shrine.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
Selekhael spends those fifteen minutes agonizing over her appearance. She can use the lion-headed angel look, but is that enough? These people think of her as their goddess, they need her to be an inspiring figure, someone to lead them... And yet she wants to be approachable, someone they can talk to.
She needs to look like a priestess, and she's not sure her current dress is right for that. It's very utilitarian. And jewelry! She needs jewelry, something tasteful, but something that would set her apart a little.

She's surprised to find a few small rooms in the back to serve as priestly quarters, fully furnished and outfitted, even more surprised to find priestly vestments in her size. She gets dressed in flowing robes of blue silk, and adorns herself with coral jewelry set aside for that purpose.

And so the goddess emerges before her flock.
"Uh, hi everyone. I'm terribly sorry about crushing parts of your village." She's sure to get a chorus of "it's okay" or something similar. "I'm Selekhael, I'm new to this whole, uh, goddess thing, but if you'll have me, I'm sure we'll do great together." She smiles as welcomingly as she can. "You can bring your troubles to me, your failings, your mistakes. I can't undo them, but I can forgive them. All I ask is that you do the same to each other. If someone asks for your forgiveness, give it to them. And if you have wronged someone, ask their forgiveness."