Fantasy Come Winter's Light

[Epiphany]

Once Kip arrives, Anne's only too eager to make her way over to say hello. Of course, the two of them go way back. She and her girlfriend used to be semi-regular customers for the light stuff before disappering into the enlisted ranks a few years ago.


"Hey Kip, I'll take one," she says as she draws up on his conversation, a few denominational notes in her hand. Assuming he's willing to sell, she cheerfully makes the exchange before lighting up. She looks fitter than ever, though the cane's new. Wounded in battle?


"Oh, Ziglar? Yeah amazing knives. haven't heard much about any philosophical stuff though. Maybe I should look him up, now that I've got some downtime."


To Singhit, she offers a friendly hand and a warm smile. "I'm Anne. Careful with this crowd. You're in danger of enjoying yourself too much before the show even begins."


Although she gestures to where Five Dragons are going to be playing, her attention rather quickly shifts to Morena and the confrontation between the two drunken boys stirring up trouble by the fudge line.

 

[Arynne]

I know it won't last forever. At least, I hope it won't last forever.


Trina looks wistfully at the hot chocolate but shakes her head. "Maybe later. Don't want to overdo it. But thank you, ma'am."


She walks on, nibbling the fudge with tiny bites, trying to make it last. For some reason, she hears herself say aloud, "But it feels like forever..."

 

[FeMChara]

===============¤


The woman nodded at the hungry-looking woman and moved onto the next customer. There is never a shortage of sob stories, after all. Will you fight? Or will you give in? You have come this far. You have triumphed and survived to do it, didn't you? What a grand quest. The voice contined. But you want the grand adventure, not the scrip pinching. The plenty, not the belt cinching less than enough. Say what you want.


The sun shone down, the fudge was delicious and money was in her pocket.


=================* The Hierophant


The two would-be fighters broke off, grumbling but keeping the peace. One mumbled an apology and moved on. One kept an eye on her, however. He would not be forgetting easily. A gentleman walks by her, standing a moment. Black hair, hazel eyes on this one, though he seemed both average and sleepless, with shadows under his eyes. "Impressive-but would you stand up to someone stronger? Or someone you cared about? If you would, go behind the clump of tents with a green stripe at six." He spoke in crisp, clearly educated tones. He was sweating and stiff, in spite of the mild day.


Without waiting, he moved on.


====================% The Moriae


The Five Dragons began to play their music. Crowds began to move and a man walking stiffly, his face glistening with sweat bumped into her. "Excuse me." He just about spat, irritated by something. His hazel eyes never met hers and he walked away as harmonies rose from the stage.


He walked away to the sound of menacing guitars. How rude. How coincidental. Was it coincidental?


Something whispers that it isn't.


=================} The Alchemist


Anne got to see the pretty-faced Heck-he hadn't been around before she'd enlisted but he'd been agreeable enough. He kept looking at his phone. "Huh, looks like it's time to go iron my dog. See ya, goobers." He grinned and walked off towards a cluster of unmarked tents distinguished from others only by a green stripe.


What was he doing there?


=================} The Farm Girl


Kosche shivered. "Huh, just felt like a cat walked over my grave. You ever get that? Ooh! The band is starting! Want to go where the music isn't blaring too bad?" She waved in a random direction vaguely.


It was four o'clock. Two hours to go.

 

[Esbilon]

"I have literally no idea how that would feel," Sophia says reasonably, "though I expect that it would feel like nothing at all. And sure, blaring music is not conductive to conversation." She gives the Five Dragons a look before returning to smile at Kosche, "besides, they're the boring kind of stars."

 

[Arynne]

I want more than just adventure, Trina thinks. The books she's read make it very clear that hunger and penny-pinching feature in a lot of adventures. Also cold, wet and exhaustion.


And danger, of course.


Coming to Eagle's Launch has been an adventure of sorts. But I wanted something better. I wanted to change the world. I wanted...magic.


I still do.


Suddenly, Trina is possessed with a desire to do something reckless, frivolous and indefensible. Get drunk, buy an amber necklace, get a tattoo, dance like a mad thing. As the last of her snack disappears, she finds herself drifting towards the stage and the blaring guitars and the people beginning to gather there.

 

[Ludek]

(Kip)


He dances , shouts, jumps and occasionally whistle as others.. trying to drift to some pretty girl he haven't meet. Dance dance with her and flirt as much as noise allows.

 

[Epiphany]

"Goobers. Who talks like that." Anne chuckles as she watches Heck wandering off. Then she blinks and says "Speaking of talk, iron my dog? Never heard that expression before."


Popping open her smartphone, she looks up the expression. And then laughs in outright surprise, causing her to drop the joint she'd purchased. Using her cane for support, just in case, the green-haired girl retrieves her weed and says "Seriously? He's actually telling us he's leaving for-"


At this point, she realizes the band's started playing and the music is going full-bore. Watching Kip get his thing on, Anne smiles. But dancing's not as easy as it used to be.


Still bemused, she sets off after Heck towards those unmarked tents with a green stripe.

 

[Mei]

Morena watches the weird man leave with furrowed brow, but merely shrugs it off. Still, there's something going on with those green-striped tents. Or at least behind them. Before Zoey could really react, the tall girl slips by. She feels bad about it, but Morena doesn't want to get anyone wrapped up in this.


So she makes her way to those tents.

 

[Shining Lotus Sage]

The group seems to have disintegrated around Singhit, leaving him holding the roach, so he stuffs that in his pocket and flips his phone back open to remember what he was arguing about.


Something catches his eye, though. The movement of people, the fluid dynamics of the crowd, the feng shui of the place is just all disordered. Maybe it's the weed. He follows the trail, though, spiraling gradually through the crowd to converge on... something. Somewhere not far from this tent with a green stripe.

 

[Flowing Ink Words]

"Impressive-but would you stand up to someone stronger? Or someone you cared about? If you would, go behind the clump of tents with a green stripe at six." The man's words echoed oddly in Mizu's ears as she recalled them, and considered what the Old Man, her mentor had said, that something 'special' might be going on under the surface here.


Mizu eyes up the green striped tents, and starts looking about for a way to observe behind them, without -being- directly behind them. To watch, to learn. And if need be, to intervene if something goes wrong. She finishes off the milk shake she had held onto this whole time and frowned as she thought outloud, in a whisper. "Now, if I was going to set up a trap I wanted to watch back there, where would I sit to enjoy the show?" She grins a little as she circles the meeting place, scouting out a good spot to be close... but not too close.

 

[FeMChara]

================} The Farm Girl


Kosche leads the way to a quieter corner. She wears a distant expression. "There's something... there is something here but that's ridiculous." She found a quiet corner by... well would you look at that. "I have a wierd feeling about this. Wanna go see if they got anything about Mars inside there?" She indicated the nearby tents.


Tents with a wide green stripe. "Wanna sneak in?"


===============] The Old Man


Fate was gathering. He smiled.


================} The Alembic


Where oh where was his job at? Come out and play...


================] The Apostate


There was laughter, but unhappy laughter that Anne heard and would recognize but be unable to place. No faces to account for it, as if carried on a dry breeze.


============> The Turncoat


He set his suitcase behind the tents. It wiggled and rattled as if it were alive. He input the combination. He was already a dead man, just a matter of closing his final affairs.


=====================* ?????


Soon... soon...


A clear gap beckoned.


==============0 The Sun


Laughter and cheering floated on the breeze from the crowd as something reverberated with Trina's soul-something made of sunlight, pushing her to run, run faster.


Mizu would find a good, dark corner in an empty tent, a small rip giving her an excellent view of what would happen next.


The briefcase in the middle of the area broke open as people wandered in.


Each would hear a voice.


Singhit: What a powerful dream. A strong dream. Seek for it and grasp it, child in the name of the Sun.


Trina: Good daughter, you will find your magic. You will find your adventure. Go forth and shine like the golden sun.


Anne: Soldier. True soldier. You are more than your gun. I call on you now not as a warrior but as the faithful. Meruvia suffers a rot, a wound you must heal as you are healed in this moment. From this moment, you are consecrated as the Priestess of the Conquered Sun. Heal the land and set us captives free."


Morena: "Precious one, you stand against the senseless violence of the world and it has drawn My eye. You shall be the light that shows the way to the new generations to come. Stand proud as my Priestess, the Priestess of The Conquered Sun and set us all free on your path to glory.


Kip: Your heart is a good one, one who loves to bring joy-but it is not Venus that claims you but I, The Conquered Sun. You can bring joy and greater unity as My chosen. The golden light is now yours.


Sophia: You could reach the stars, you know. It's all right here in your mind. You can unlock the secrets of the planets. Hear me, The Conquered Sun now-you have secrets to keep. And a circle to keep safe with those secrets.


Mizu had a moment were all suddenly made sense. There was a meaning. Rhyme. Reason. History and future shined clear for a moment, from the dream's beginning-a bright road with an end. And what she saw the clearest was all the roads and pathways open... all the secret ways and the symbol of Jupiter burned on her head.


====================} The Hierophant


The man with black hair, hazel eyes looked at each of those who walked into the small area- enough for them to be confortable as symbols burned on their foreheads. Kosche gaped at her classmate as the purple sign of Saturn shined on her forehead.


"I suspect you all have questions. Make it to the point, we don't have much time. Twilights... Zenith, an Eclipse and a Chosen of Endings. This is going to be an interesting time for you all."


Singhit and Sophia would recognize him as a biology professor of the Heptagram. The empty briefcase stood with holders and glass balls within, broken.


What now?

 

[Esbilon]

Instinctively Sophia raises her hand to block out the sharp light of the many suns surrounding her, but mid-action, she stops as she finds that the golden light does not blind her. Instead, she takes a moment to look around at her fellow light shows before fixing her gaze on the professor. "Alright, I'm guessing 'what the hell just happened?' is too broadly based, so let's go with 'are we in imminent threat of death?' and 'do you actually know what the hell just happened?'"

 

[Flowing Ink Words]

Mizu just took a moment to stagger, as her mind tried to comprehend what the -hell- just happened. Her mind was spinning as for that brief moment, oh so brief, the world made -sense-. The Rhyme and Reason was laid bare, the writing of the pasts upon the land itself glimmering brightly. The group that had gathered suddenly burst into lights. Solars? what are the favored of the law doing here? And then she realized, almost sickeningly, that her hiding spot had been given away, the glowing green lighting up the folds of one of the tents that she had picked as her watching spot. She sighs, as she steps out into the group. "I'm guessing if glowing like a stage light is part of identification that I'm apparently in this mess as much as the rest of you?" She offers in a soft voice. "I doubt we're in -immediate- danger of the types you'd be expecting, however..." Mizu stares at the man. "Let's add 'who are you?' to the list of questions we'd love answers to."

 

[Ludek]

(Kip)


Kip is stunned for long while .. just trying to make sense of situation but nothing reasonable comes to his mind, he would like to attribute whole thing to drug trip .. but he feels too lucid. Then remembers about professor Zilga and shouts


"Betrayer ! Betrayer stole white energy! Why me you liar! I will never betray like you"


And in desperation tries to focus his mind to use white energy to hurt source of this voice or perhaps memory that just revelaed itself to him. Obviously it acomplished nothing.

 

[Mei]

Morena's rather distracted by the fantastical anima display she and the others have been putting on. Put her attention turns over to Mizu and her bright... Green-ness. "Those are all very good questions. I don't have any to add."

 

[Arynne]

Catriona Hayes stares, dazzled, at the glowing Chosen surrounding her. Her fingers go up to touch her forehead, which feels as hot as the bulb of a lamp yet pains her not at all.


"We're...Exalted now? Was that what the voice meant?" Excitement and disbelief war in her tones.

 

[Epiphany]

Anne blinks away tears from her eyes as the beatific vision fades. As her vision clears, she sees the glow of the people around her. Followed by noticing her own golden light. The green-haired girl holds up one of her hands, waggles her fingers to watch the anima flicker and flow. Then she spits out the joint and punches Kip in the arm.


"St. Ceila's Corset, Kip, what the hell did you put in this shit you sold me?"


Dismissing her anger as quickly as it came, Anne takes a step forward into the loose circle of new Exalts. "You recognize us," she says to the man with black hair and hazel eyes. "You were expecting this. Did you make it happen?"

 

[Ludek]

(Kip)


"Anne just normal weed, I use it myself .. look we are both glowing! We should go to hospital or something it may be harmful to health"


Looks around and continues


"We aren't only ones who suffer from this .. I think it's because of white energy. We somehow absorbed it."


Shouts to all exalts who can her him "Hey Folks!, Don't worry you must radiate out whole energy .. but , but maybe we should go to hospital or something .. this may be harmful to health"

 

[FeMChara]

The man held up his hands. "My name is Dr. Asra Steven. You are the chosen champions of the god now called The Conquered Sun. I did not imagine you all would be exalted-the transported Exaltations were held in glass balls but they are meant to seek heroic hosts. Though Sol Ignis may speak to you, you can choose your own way. You wouldn't be the first Solars to do so. It was why you were made. Long ago, a war was waged but the Sun lost his war, as did the Maidens. He had good reasons for it and things... went terribly wrong. However, I would not advise you to just turn yourself in. You are not in immediate danger. You would not be killed. What would happen is that you would find your mind is not your own anymore, changed in that and your body to one of the... Saints' whims. You do not want that." He spoke in even, toneless statements.


"The Solars betrayed the one who raised them-and many of them have been changed. You see... the Black Emperor himself was a traitor. He has made a playground of this world. He was and still is a Creature of Darkness. I don't think anything can be done about him-but you must be free. Your Exaltations were set for being... tainted and changed." He turned to Mizu and Kosche. "And you two will know your kind when you see them. Trust none of them, they are... compromised. You are Sidereals, Starborn, called Seers. Your kind served as spies for the Solar Host in their war... and they broke when The Maidens were sealed away. What you should do now is hide. Learn. Watch for the skies and do not betray one another." He urged, sounding tired.

 

[Ludek]

(Kip)


"Dude, what are you saying, we are weapons and are made like atomic bomb or something?Are we exploding or something like that? We definitely should check out with hospital .. did you heard of Thorns? They said was nuclear reactor but maybe it was ... exaltation gone bad? And what kind of conspiracy you want to get me involved in? What kind of shit you are peddling to us? Admit you stole them! I'm honest citizen I want none of this"


Then Kip slowly with hesitation moves out

 

[Shining Lotus Sage]

"Good doctor," Singhit begins, stepping forward with hand raised. He doesn't get any further, though. Something about his fingers seems to have distracted him.


"We are a fist, aren't we?"

 

[Flowing Ink Words]

Mizu frowns. "once we're not ... glowing quite so brightly... I can offer somewhere we can lay low for a while." She looks at Kip and shrugs. "It'd be tight quarters, mind you. It's a studio apartment. But it'd be better then out in the open. And it's paid for with cash under a false name." She shrugs. "... and since introductions seem to be in order, you can call me Mizu, if you didn't know me already." She frowns softly. "I also could offer a slightly larger place we could go but I can't guarantee that it would be as... hidden. Slightly bigger place someone I know has and keeps. Told me to go there if I was in trouble."

 

[FeMChara]

"I don't know what happened in Thorns, son but Exaltations do not go bad like that. If you leave, you place all in this... room of sorts in danger."


He looks at Singhit. "A fist? No. You are like fire. Fire warms, it can make tools, it can save and preserve lives and make food and water safe-but fire also burns and consumes."

 

[Esbilon]

"Circle," Sophia corrects Singhit, "at least according to the voice in my head. And" she adds to Kip, "we're not in any danger of exploding, nor is this light show related to 'white energy,'" she stops herself from making air quotes at that particular bit of horseradish, "running off alone is unlikely to help anyone."


She nods at Mizu's words, "I'm Sophia, and I'm not overly fond of the idea of putting all of us into a small studio apartment, that seems like a recipe for disaster."

 

[Shining Lotus Sage]

"We aren't. But we will be soon," murmurs Singhit, still gawking at his hand as though seeing it for the first time.


"It makes so much more sense, now. But it's illicit. Contraband. We must smuggle ourselves, you understand. There are agendas. "


Then he looks up, at Asra and Sophia, then Kip. And he laughs.