catch all for july

[mythratastic]

WHO: Mythra/Pyra and various
WHERE: Around town
WHEN: Around June
WHAT: Quests and shit.
WARNINGS: Nothing so far

[ Prompts below! ]

Comments

For Xie Lian

[mythratastic]

[ On the morning the quests go up, Xie Lian will receive this message: ]

Xie Lian if you volunteer to be killed for that one quest I swear to goddamn Architect I'll kill you myself.

[ Oh it's another type of mom.... the tough-love kind. ]

[holycurse]

[why is this the first thing he sees when checking his computer this morning--he quickly goes to look at what the quests actually are for a minute before replying with]

i won't, i promise
!!
no one's life is at stake here

[Because that's the important part?]

[mythratastic]

I'm talking about YOUR life.

Go volunteer to give up a lot of your blood to Sierra for her skeleton experiment if you have to, but volunteering to be killed is a hard line. Just putting that out there.

For Kaoru

[pyrafect]

[ Quest 65: Fight the Naga. Pyra/Mythra (Blue | #27DEA9), Kaoru (Red | #FF8080) ]

[ Pyra stands at the edge of the woods, awaiting Kaoru. ]

Good morning. Hope this isn't too early for you, to fulfill a quest? [ She smiles pleasantly at her, giving her a polite nod as a greeting. ] I brought snacks, just in case.

[ Dragon jerky! ]

[queenofminiskirts]

[She stretches her arms with a pout. If it's before noon then it is, indeed, too early for her to be awake. But if she thinks of it as being on a mission then it's easier. After all, predicted disasters happen whenever they do not at hours that are convenient to her.

Still, she pouts.] It's too early but since someone as cute as you asked me I can't say no, can I?

[And since she's in mission mode she's naturally also in uniform.]

[pyrafect]

[ She giggles lightly at the compliment, but it seems that her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes. ]

I think you're the cute one today.... Your-- is that uniform? I don't think I've ever seen the cape before.

It's a nice touch.

[ And she means that sincerely! It fits her, she looks like some kind of leader. ]

For Tristan; backdated to late June

[pyrafect]

[ After this conversation... It's actually Mythra that shows up to his house, looking faintly disinterested, at most mildly annoyed, reluctant. But despite her tone and expression, she invites him to touch her crystal. "She's in here," she tells him. "Resting."

And when he eventually awakens in the realm of her memoryscape, surrounded once more by the peaceful pasture, the wide, endless skies, the warmth, the peace... He'll see Pyra sitting by the tree upon the hill that overlooks the town.

She looks tired, perhaps. But also... at peace. Elysium, a paradise-- any paradise-- has a way of inducing calm and tranquility. There is nothing that changes here. No pain, no hurt. Loneliness, yes, as solemn and profound as the bell that tolls in the background, but her smile seems a little easier. ]

...Isn't it peaceful here? [ She says with a sigh. He's free to sit next to her, or remain standing. She's not going to be telling him what to do either way. ] Away from... [ A pause. ] everything. Everyone.

[ .... ]

It used to only be like that. Long, long ago...

[noholdsbard]

[ He’d known quite a number of people who’ve been trapped in their heads, unable to truly know peace. But Elysium has always felt different—it is a refuge rather than a prison. But even so…it’s hard not to wonder if perhaps she’s been keeping much from him because she has this place.

There are some towers he can’t save damsels from. Not unless they choose to let him inside.

But for now he opts to take a seat next to her, staying quiet and simply allowing her the space to talk. Because really, when it all comes down to it, he’s here to listen. ]

Then what has changed?

[pyrafect]

[ As far as she is concerned, he has already given her an answer before when she had messaged him. It's nice to be able to speak to him in person, but she's not sure what else might change... which is funny, considering he's asking about change itself. ]

We... did not exist originally with emotions. Or upon the earth. It was only when we were taken from this place and awakened, that that imprinted upon us.

[ She smiles faintly, not at him but at the quaint, empty town that stretches out below. ] It's... both wonderful and terrible, to feel.

July 4, right after Mythra's network post

[espritdecorpse]

[ Since the laptops can only be used in a person's residence, the appearance of a network post can mean only one thing: Pyra is finally home. He's been going to her house day after day, and looking for her through the village, since the appearance in his townhouse of a particular book.

Before the book's appearance, he'd kept his distance. She had dismissed him in the strongest way she possibly could, because he had hurt her so deeply. And so he had to respect her wishes. But now, any ability he had for restraint is gone.

He knocks at her door, calling: ]

Pyra, are you there? It's me. Wei Ying.

[ Will she talk to him? He has to try, at least. ]

[pyrafect]

[ After coming back from trekking through the woods, she hadn't even noticed that a new scroll had appeared in her house. It's Mythra that reads it first, as she is the one who had made the post, and Pyra who absorbs the information from within her mindscape.

But before she can even process the entire thing, she hears a knock at her door, a familiar voice.

Do you want me to handle it? asks Mythra.

To which Pyra replies, No, it's fine. And she takes over to answer the door, opening it slowly, speaking quietly. Unlike every other instance she's ever greeted him at her door, she stands before him without a smile this time, uncertain because... she's not sure how to speak to him, after reading something so deeply personal. She can only guess that she had received the scroll as part of a quest reward-- that quest reward.

Try to break up true love.

How could they have fulfilled it, when they never were together? Or does this mean that there is no love there anymore? She had confessed to him in person at such an inopportune, selfish moment, and now it's come to a complete surprise to her that he's loved her at all-- or so this scroll says. It's also written in the scroll that she had rejected him twice before! Twice! But then there is also a sizable portion about Lan Wangji, which isn't surprising. He writes far more naturally about him, his heart itches for the man. ]

I'm here.

[ I'm here, as she's told him before, over and over again, mostly when he's leaving. It's strange to say those words when he's coming to her. ]

Wei Ying, you should know that I-- I just read a... scroll. As if it was written by you. [ She'll offer it to him. ]

1/3

[espritdecorpse]

[ Before she opens the door, he's looking down at a plain book in his hands, pressing the edge with his thumb and making the pages flip: he's fidgeting. When the door opens, he glances up reflexively and... ]

[espritdecorpse]

[ ...is stunned by the sight of her standing there before him, as breathtaking as the first time he saw her, that day long ago when she'd picked up his mirror and teased it. He's only been able to steal glances at her, these past few weeks, so it's almost more than he can bear right now, being able to stand near her once more and bask in her presence. His eyes widen. His cheeks color.

Her smile, though, is gone. He can't help feeling sad about that, and guilty. It's heart-wrenching to see. But if what he's read in her book is true, then perhaps the face she has been showing everyone all this time isn't her real one. ]

[espritdecorpse]

[ With all these thoughts running through his head, it takes him a moment to respond: ]

Right. I... I guessed as much. I just read something too.

[ He holds up the book. ]

Can I come in?

For Nyx, Lan Wangji

[pyrafect]

[ They would have both received a message from Pyra to meet her at the town hall. To Nyx, she would have informed him of the flower crown she and Lan Wangji had made during a previous quest and of its ability to rapidly grow plants-- normal plants, at that. And since Nyx has been, in her mind, more or less one of the main leaders in protecting Chroma, she had wanted his opinion of what to do with it. To Lan Wangji, she would have asked him to come because he was the one who made it with her. ]

....This flower crown is a lot more useful than I had anticipated; looking back, I wished I had made more during that philosopher stone's quest. [ Then again, she wouldn't have known it was anything other than a decorative headpiece until she had planted flowers with Ardyn, actually. ]

But between using this crown to plant a ring of trees around the town or maybe using it for crops-- [ A pause, and she brings a hand to her chin. ] I wonder which is best to do.

[alittlespicy]

[ WangJi frowns. This is... an important question. ]

Walls may not hold. But if the safe path is broken, we might not know until we need it.

[ There are advantages and disadvantages to both options, after all. ]

For Somnus

[pyrafect]

[ With the flowers and their enchanting effects gone, Pyra feels peace return to the town. Not that it had been particularly chaotic-- nothing can quite compare to dragons ravaging the town with their spitfire-- having one's emotions toyed with is still draining. Thus she finds some solace in returning to her various projects... only to find that she doesn't quite have the heart to busy herself with them anyway.

A breeze passes through the length of the canal, rippling the dark, still water below the bridge. It's then, wandering across one of the bridges of Bluo, that she sees a familiar face standing at the center. She feels embarrassed for having walked away so abruptly from him after she had told him about the importance of making bond, if not outfight hypocritical. But she hadn't been quite in the right state of mind then, partly due to the flowers, partly due to recent events.

She knows that whatever misgivings she has about it, the man had seem completely unbothered back then that it's likely he doesn't even think twice about their encounter. Nevertheless, she feels she has to make up for leaving so quickly, and her image of him is still that of a lonely, god-anointed man sitting within a godsless church. ]

Good morning, Your Majesty. [ Pyra announces her presence before she approaches him, but doesn't wait for permission to walk over to him. Her voice carries a timid smile. ] ...I'm glad to see you are still here. [ People can disappear at any moment, she knows. ]

[meridio]

[ His reign as king ended thousands of years ago. To hear such a formal address directed his way, Somnus pauses before craning his neck in Pyra's direction. It's the woman from the church, the one who fled after he said something with which she must have disagreed.

By now, the lone flower has released him from its grasp. This time, he can trust that the words to leave his lips will be truly his. ]

Hail, Pyra.

Chroma has decided that it is not yet my time. It seems the same can be said of you.

[pyrafect]

People arrive here every two months form the well. But over the past half-year, there have been less and less appearances. [ She dips her head to him as he turns to greet her. ] ....But those here can vanish at any moment.

[ She straightens, her smile betraying the same sadness he might have seen before within the church. It's the kind that never leaves someone who has hope. ] That makes it even more important, that we sustain what bonds we can here.

[ Pyra brings a hand to her chest, and she drops her gaze once more. ]

So... I... wanted to apologize again for leaving so abruptly.

tree event for somnus again

[pyrafect]

[ Three-quarters way back to the town after her kidnapping by the dryads, Pyra finds herself by the same clear, fresh-water river she had used to navigate through the woods for two previous trips. She stops there at its bank not out of a wish to rest, but because she finds that...

She can no longer move away from the spot she's knelt at, not when her legs have merged into a trunk and her feet have changed into roots that dig and coil into the soft, mossy ground of the forest. Tall, long branches have already begun sprouting from her back, elegant and limber, arching over her shoulders with their weight, wispy and willow-like as their leaves dip into the water, all parts of the tree into which she is transforming of her color.

It seems that she will no longer be able to move back into the town. And that's.... okay. This is okay, this could be the way it's meant to be. She's paying the price for cutting down those trees in the first place, perhaps even killing one of the forest guardians itself.

It's then that she hears footfalls. While she is still able to control some amount of her body, she lifts her head to see just who is approaching, whether friendly face or monster. ] ....Your Majesty.

[ Pyra lends him a tired, solemn nod, half-transformed and immobile, but smiles nonetheless in his direction. ] ...I hope your stroll through these woods hasn't been unpleasant.

[ Carrying on a casual conversation as her skin seems to turn further into bark, inching up her arms like poison crawling through veins... seems like the best decision to make for her, to not worry him. He's a newcomer. He should know that she will--.. she'll be fine. ]

[meridio]

[ The color makes her impossible to miss. When Somnus comes upon Pyra farther down the river, he finds before him a ghastly sight. Yet he doesn't rush to her side, held back by his wariness of a strange new curse to whose workings he's ignorant.

Even in that state, she would force a smile on her face for him. It's little more than wasted effort on her part, not that she's making an active attempt at resisting her transformation. She must realize that thrashing about won't help. ]

I have come in search of answers, that I might find those who were taken. What will free you from your curse?

for xie lian pt 2

[mythratastic]

Uhmmmmm....

[ Mythra makes a noise. A curious noise. A noise that indicates that she may or may not know exactly what she is doing here. And what she is doing here, in her house, is.... Cooking. Cooking with a certain god along with her; cooking scorpion parts to be exact. ] Yeah-- yeah. Maybe add a little bit of that spice from the thorn-castle for, like-- what is it called? A rub? Yeah, like a spice rub that goes on meat. That might help.

[ All the while she's talking, she' pouring their first cups of quality Tornan sake, courtesy of the ramen shop she had gained via a wish. While the food no longer restores, the rice wine itself has yet to spoil. Neither Pyra nor Mythra drink on their own, and the amount of times they've had people over to pour a drink for them amounts to exactly zero. That means they're quite loaded up on booze, and this is as good as time as any.

Because this is supposed to be a celebration, a fuck-them-gods-that-kicked-Xie-Lian-out-of-heaven celebration. The best kind of celebration. ]

Here you go... [ She's already handing him a dish of sake. ]

[holycurse]

A rub...?

[He's never heard of the concept, but it sounds interesting enough to try. He reaches for the spice in question, pouring a liberal amount onto the meat on the counter before absentmindedly accepting Mythra's dish and sipping from it—]

—Ah. We're starting already?

[Drinking while cooking isn't something he's tried before...]

For Shen Qingqiu, backdated before the event

[pyrafect]

[ It's been a week or two since the effects of the flowers wore off, and it's just enough time to allow Pyra and Mythra to regain their bearings after the fallout of it all. While Mythra's interaction with Shen Qingqiu while under the influence of the flowers hadn't been too terrible, she still believes that it warrants some sort of apology for being rude.

And so here she is at his door, holding a basket of baked goods. She knocks upon his door. ]

[shizun]

[ There is a distinct fear in his heart that Luo Binghe is going to come break down his door and drag him off to be tortured. It is something that eats away at him -- and thankfully, the flowers being nullified means that he can properly think of how terrifying that prospect is.

However, someone knocking on the door would not be a person that wants to murder him. So, he can open it with ease. His smile tight as he is a little surprised to see Pyra especially with a basket of baked goods. ]

Hello, Pyra. Is this for a quest, perhaps?