Judgement Day: Seven Days to Heaven

Discussion Thread here.

Time feels like putty in this place. You don't remember when or how you left the Hall of Judgement; one minute you were just there, and now you are here. Though by all means the transition seemed to have taken a matter of seconds, to you it feels like it's been hours. As for where "here" is, well... We'll discuss that when we get to you individually.

The Judge appears before you. From the way his form flickers in and out of existence, you can tell he is a projection of some sort. He opens his mouth to speak; his voice is a rich, deep baritone.

"Welcome, all contestants, to the most important game you'll ever play. In case you've forgotten, you are dead. You've led a life of absolute debauchery and despotism, and have rightfully earned your place within the Fields of Punishment. But I, in my infinite wisdom and mercy, have allowed you an opportunity - a second chance, if you will. If you best me at my game, you will be forgiven of all wrongdoing, and accepted into Bliss.

"The rules are simple. Each day, you will be assigned a task. In a way, these tasks are superficial - you can complete them or not, and it will matter little. But know this: Each completed task will bring you closer to your True Goal. Only once you have discovered and completed this goal can you truly claim to have been redeemed, and be accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven.

"But be forewarned: The city I have placed you in is crawling with monsters and the Undead. That's right - you can die again. If you die in the game, you die in real life. No more Bliss, no more Punishment, not even Purgatory. You will instead spend eternity in this city as a shambling corpse, a soulless husk of your former self.

"And finally: While your Deadly Sins may help or hinder you at their own leisure, my Seven Heavenly Virtues will actively be working against you, preventing you from reaching your True Goal. But if you can make it through all these trials and come out of the other side unscathed, you will have earned your place in Bliss.

"You have seven days."

The image of the Judge disappears, leaving you alone with your thoughts and your sins.

Prince Pontius Praetorius of House Peony

You find yourself in an enchanted forest. At least, you're pretty sure it's enchanted, because you're in it. That's what you keep telling yourself, anyways. You can't see any civilization from here, but the Judge mentioned a city, so you're sure there must be one nearby. The leaves rustle through the trees and an eerie wind blows through the woods.

Your equipment:

• Royal Rapier: Passed down through your family for generations. You're... Honestly a little surprised they buried this with you, though you're not sure why.
• A Copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare: A bit pointless of the Judge to give this to you, as you've already read them all countless times.
• Risk Piece: A lucky token for you. A bit useless in this place, but it holds sentimental value.
• The Sin of Envy: A Lowly Wyrm, wrapped around your shoulders, its scales shimmering with gorgeous hues of pink and green. These are common pets in the Feywilds, though they don't usually whisper all your inadequacies into your ear.

DXN-539 "Dixon Fairchild"

You find yourself in some sort of boxing ring. It's empty, and there's a fine layer of dust covering everything. All sorts of exercise equipment surrounds the ring, giving you the sense that you must be in some sort of gym or something. Your eyes seem drawn to a calendar in the far corner.

Your equipment:

• Boxing Gloves: A cherished possession. You've had these forever.
• Ukelele: A small string instrument. Plays nice little joyful tunes.
• Journal & Pencil: Filled with crude little doodles. Some of them might hold memories within.
• The Sin of Wrath: An ugly-cute little demon on your shoulder. Gets riled up easily. Encourages you to keep fighting.

Prince Sussus Amogus

You find yourself within the dark and barren hallways of what looks to be an abandoned spaceship, where the Judge has just disappeared from the Comms screen. The silence here is deafening, and the dark aura of death and betrayal that looms over the place is overpowering. You briefly peek down the halls and find them devoid of all life. However, you hear footsteps nearby.... Footsteps from the VENTS.

Your equipment:

• Big Book of Amogus: Passed down through your family for generations. You've studied it your whole life, but you've only ever been able to learn one spell.
• Royal Wand: Precious family heirloom. You're surprised they buried it with you, though you're not sure why. It still looks exactly how it did when they gave it to you.
• Wine Goblet: Yeah this one's an heirloom too. It's empty right now, but could be refilled with the one spell you know.
• The Sin of Pride: A golden genie in the shape of a strange little creature in a spacesuit, who appears when you open your spellbook. It speaks only in text bubbles, and pressures you to do better.

Immaculate Aqal

You find yourself at the top of a high-rise building. From here, you can see the entirety of the city - A perfect square with 36 districts, surrounded on all sides by a ring of forestry. Beyond that, the outskirts seem to drop out into the void, floating within the endless expanse. The wind flows through you hair as you take in the scene.

You hear a whizzing sound from above. You look up to see an unidentified object, falling directly towards you at Mach speed.

Your equipment:

• Rifle: You never leave home without it, and apparently, you never leave the Realm of the Living without it either. Carries 5 shots.
• Journal & Pen: Full of stories, poems, and stray thoughts. Could hold memories within.
• Revolutionary Flag: Only a strip of it. Most of the sigil is missing, but looking at it fills you with determination.
• The Sin of Lust: A pocket-sized holographic projector, which shows the spitting image of Saint Sebastian, only with red hair and red eyes and red horns. He urges you to keep going, to take life by the horns and live it to the fullest. Often fidgets with the spears goring him.

Noe Carter

You find yourself within a mystical cave. You know it's mystical because you're in it, or at least, that's what you keep telling yourself. It's the middle of the day, and you can see sunlight pouring in from an entrance not far off, but it's far enough that you're safe from it in here.

There's lots of bats sleeping on the ceiling. Many of them are shifting in their sleep, and a few of them even open their eyes to look at you, but they otherwise don't seem to mind your presence.

You notice that one of the bats is hanging strangely. Only one of its claws is gripped to the ceiling, the other hangs loose, gripped tightly around a small slip of paper.

Your equipment:

• Parasol: For protection from the sun.
• A Copy of The Twilight Saga: The Judge must have given you this as a joke.
• Toolkit: Containing all the basic tools required for you to utilize your skills.
• The Sin of Greed: The spirit of a Nine-Tailed Wolf, which floats menacingly behind you. It speaks little, but growls at everything it perceives as threats to your place in the world.

Bob From Ohio

You find yourself in a familiar room. Somehow you feel completely at home here. As if you never need to leave this place, ever.

Your equipment:

• Your room is decked out with all the equipment an Otaku could need. A wall full of screens, at least half of them playing hentai at all times. Every single gaming console that has ever existed, all plugged into a screen. A thousand collections of games and anime figures and posters and tshirts and merch. It's every Otaku's dream.
• The Sin of Sloth: A body pillow with an anime slothgirl on it. You find yourself clinging to it often, unable to let go. Some days it's heavier than others.

The Judge disappears from one of your many screens after delivering his message. You glance at another screen, and see that you have an unread DM from a Discord moderator.

Zelda Fitzgerald

You find yourself in the middle of a hospital. Or what used to be a hospital, rather. For you see, it has long ago burned down. Rusted metal gurneys lie in a decrepit pile, as the charred remnants of the waiting desks and first aid kids lie scattered across the ground.

You hear the ringing of a bell. Turning your head to the corner, you see the charred remnants of a nurse's station, where a rusted bell lies in a twisted shape. At the counter is an Undead.

Your equipment:

• Art Kit: A collection of paints and pens and the like. No canvas or easels, as that would be too much to carry around, but you might be able to find something to use them on.
• Opium Pipe: Filled with magic opium. Gives a much better high than normal opium.
• Bottle Opener: The only tool a woman needs. You can do a lot with this, if you put your mind to it.
• The Sin of Gluttony: A pair of glittery ballet slippers, seemingly glued to your feet. They don't speak, but they hold the power to unleash all your most sinful desires.

What do you do?

Edited by Afterwards on Apr 14th 2023 at 8:48:32 AM

As the image is gone, Immaculate Aqal looks down at the city. It almost looks beautiful, city blocks fading away into bush, fading further away into an endless void.

He is dead, isn't he? He is dead, and he's been given another chance. A chance to prove that he was destined to be among the saints and martyrs of the world after a life that supposedly was one of inaction and lust. That's what the jackal-headed man said. He takes a deep breath, and straps his trusty rifle onto his back. Looks like his fight decided to die along with him, didn't it? Listening to the voice of Saint Sebastian from the effigy, he takes a deep breath, with lungs that had long since forgotten the feeling of air inside of them. He had this chance. He would grasp it, and never let it go.

And then, as he pockets his journal and the effigy into his long coat jacket, ties the flag strip to his clothing, and puts the pen behind his ear, he sees the object. Too fast for him to dodge for sure, but he was still going to try. He wasn't going to die again.

He mutters a prayer to the image of Saint Sebastian, the one who was saved from his first martyrdom, that he too, would survive this shot.

> He prays, as a small shield of faith emerges around him.
> And of course, he dodges.

Edited by MadameButterflyKnife on Apr 13th 2023 at 10:33:19 AM

“…Well. No sense in waiting around for another toad.” Pontius gets stable on his two feet, and practices pulling his rapier a number of times. Once he feels adjusted, he sets it in his sheath, and takes flight.

He flies up to the trees, flittering above the canopy, searching for this supposed nearby city.

A crimson robot lifted himself from the ground of a boxing ring.

Dixon stared at one of the turnbuckles surrounding him, brushing a bit of dust from the top rope before blowing it off of his right pointer with a puff of air from his grille.

It had been a long time since this thing was used. Seemed like he could say the same thing for himself.

The memories in his head were mostly static. Hazy places and things. Corrupted data. With one person, somehow indistinguishable and distinct at once, showing up through them all. Blue hair. Olive complexion. Kinda short.

Any machine with the capacity to think would be frustrated at data loss, but this was unfathomable. It pissed him off that he couldn't figure it out. He was supposed to be good at that kind of thing.

A blink from his hexa-lenses. A grunt. A landing onto the ground beneath the ring with a quiet thud, as he approached the calendar hanging on the wall.

Edited by Tre on Apr 13th 2023 at 10:40:22 AM

Zelda Fitzgerald - Default Form - Burned Down Hospital

That was a wild, distressing ride.

Especially for a middle-aged, worn out woman who may not be alright in the slightest. Oh and she doesn't remember a single thing from her life beyond her name - Zelda Fitzgerald - and the sins that she apparently committed.

First, Zelda had to deal with an intimidating jury that went on about how GLUTTONOUS she is while not giving any other context and don't get started on the Judge. He was the most frightening thing she had seen and well, she couldn't help but freak out.

And now, here she is, waking up in the middle of a burnt down hospital. Surrounding her are her supplies, which she picked up, wondering what they are. That's when Zelda spotted her sparkling ballet slippers. She looked at them down curiously. Her memory's usually pretty bad it seems, but she doesn't recall wearing them during her trial.

Hearing a bell, Zelda finds the Undead that's at the counter.

She jumps in fright.

"Gah!"

Zelda was hesitant to approach the Undead fellow, but she needed to do something to get started on the game the Judge offered her.

She slowly approached the being, fidgeting with her hands and grimacing. Eventually, she arrived at the counter and ringed the rusted bell.

"H-Hello, sir... Ma'am... Whoever you are. May I check m-myself out or somethin'?"

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Apr 13th 2023 at 8:57:29 AM

“Oh god, what time is it?”

A very thin man wearing a baseball cap groggily awakens from his gaming chair, eyes half-shut. His baggy eyes barely glance down at the computer's clock. 11:43 AM. The remnants of last night's argument on who is the better waifu in ''I Got Reincarnated As A High-School Student in Mediaeval Europe" (obviously Reina) linger in his mind. He switches eyes to another screen. It's a classic anime, from the 1980s, back when he was a teen.

“Ayyyyyy, thanks mom!”

He then proceeds to watch the entire season.

Sussus looks around confused and unnerved. He's never actually seen this spaceship before, the technology level far outstrips the one he's used to. Yet it feels oddly familiar, as if he had walked among its halls before somehow and forgotten.

In order to calm his nerves, he instinctively makes as many quips and insults he can as he wanders around the place. Aimed at whoever might be listening, he simultaneously hopes and dreads the possibility of an actual response.

> Head towards the vents

A cave. That’s... stereotypical.

Or at least, so goes the thought on the forefront of my mind. It’s an admittedly hypocritical one, beyond the fact it’s mired in fucking nonsense - Hell, if I’d ever bothered to mull over its existence after years of unlife, is hardly its own textbook image, what with the Anubis lookalikes peddling redemption and classical fire and brimstone subbed in for crumbling infrastructure. That latter part doesn’t feel unfounded, in a strange way. But grand expectations or otherwise, it’s no place for someone like myself, and of that much I’m more than aware: A Kindred having a soul left over to kill time with is unheard of.

Once you’re destroyed, Death is meant to get its final claim on an overdue shell, running on stolen blood. One can imagine for us there aren’t many jovial tales of an afterwards.

So for all this Judge one’s ministrations, I don’t know what the hell he’s on about. His directives are simple enough - seven days and seven tasks, choose to die or die in a slightly prettier lap. A time limit and a laundry list of errands. Nothing unfamiliar, if I treated it as another job. Even bothered to toss in supplies for the road: utility knives, lockpicks, spare USBs... All the essentials sans the pay, right here to be buried with. In a sense it’s almost generous.

Part of me still can’t help but wonder how I landed here, though. I rack whatever remains of my soil-stained brains for answers, but it wavers out of reach...

At least they had the decency to give you a laptop.

I roll my eyes. Is there even any signal down here? I’ve never been one to gloss over chances for information, if there’s one thing I know, so I >pull the scroll from the little bat’s claw and scan its contents.

Immaculate

You swerve to the side just as Sebastian's shield emerges. The falling object smashes right into it, the force of it sending you flying backwards. You tumble across the roof before slowly skidding to a stop right at the edge. The object - a strange metal canister, still smoking from its entry into the atmosphere - has lodged itself into the shield, which dissipates into shimmering light, dropping the canister on the floor. The canister breaks open, and out flutters a single note, reading:

Fan the Flames of War.

Pontius

You fly up through the canopy, rushing past the leaves and branches, until finally you make your way to the top of the tree, looking out over the vast woods. Sure enough, there is a city not far off, stretching as far as you can see in front of you. At the center is a massive skyscraper, where you spot something being flung at it from the sky. Wonder what that's about.

Suddenly, there's a gust of wind from below, the wind buffeting your wings and throwing you off balance. In the commotion you find yourself caught in a flurry of leaves, when one of them catches your eye - it appears to have writing on it:

Find the Others.

DXN

You make your way to the calendar, taking a closer look at it. It doesn't seem like a normal calendar, with one page for each month, the weeks and days neatly separated. Instead, this calendar has seven pages, and at the top of each reads: Day One, Day Two, and so on. Most of the pages are empty, but the page for Day One reads:

Punch Out the Lamb of God.

"A fight, huh?" Wrath smirks from atop your shoulder. "Count us in! Where is this Lamb of God?!"

Zelda

The Undead merely groans menacingly. It doesn't appear to have understood you, or possibly even processed that you're there. By happenstance, you glance down at the desk in front of it.

There seems to be a couple forms sitting at the desk. Upon further inspection, the forms appear to be... Your release papers. Only, at the bottom of the page, instead of a signature, the following message is scrawled:

Consume the Blood of Christ.

Bob

You eagerly watch your anime while loudly munching on potato chips, the weight of your body pillow keeping you glued to your chair. As you do, however, you keep being interrupted by annoying pings from Discord.

Noe

You gently take hold of the bat, slowly loosening the note from its grip. It doesn't seem to mind much, shuffling comfortably back onto the ceiling as you turn away. You unfurl the note and read it:

Claim the First Seal of Heaven.

Amogus

You wander the halls nervously, shouting insults and jokes at no one. You make your way to the nearest vent, as the footsteps sound louder and closer, quickening their pace with every step. You brace yourself for what you'll find, when suddenly, the grille flies off the vent, and out climbs a very disgruntled cat person.

"Well, you sure sound fun at parties," they sneer, glaring at you with bright green eyes, their ears lowered in frustration. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

What do you do?

Edited by Afterwards on Apr 14th 2023 at 11:59:58 AM

“Oh heavens~“ Pontius yipes, as he attempts to glide with the wind. Doing so yields him some control, but he still ends up knocking into an oak tree, sounding off a little ‘thonk’.

The prince stands and treats his head wound with an assuring hand. “Lord,” he mutters, before he considers the writing he’d seen.

“Find the others… Others? Kinsmen perhaps?” Pontius shrugs, before once more taking flight. Albeit, this time lower to the ground, where wind will not have such lease.

He proceeds to fly in the direction of the city.

"Can't, I'm too busy kissing yours."

Sussus knows full well that this is not the time to be antagonizing people, but his mouth moves faster than his brain. He is forced to sheepishly backtrack.

"Uh, just kidding no hard feelings. Do you happen to know where we are exactly?"

Immaculate hits the concrete, and for a moment, the blunt force almost feels like Heaven's own kiss, before the rush wears off and he's left nearly dangling off the rooftop.

As he gets up, the shield dissipates and the canister falls to the ground, reading its commandment. Fan the Flames of War.

He takes a second to recover. He wouldn't lie, it felt good to feel the pain reverberating through his body. Maybe it was the eons in the fields of purgatory talking, like how everything looked brighter after the acid storms came around to baptize the world.
It was a comparison he didn't understand the words of, as he thought about it, but he could understand the meaning of. And that was all that really mattered. He picked up the note, and placed it in his pocket.

The city looked peaceful from up here. Surprising, he thought, for a city of the damned. But he remembered what the jackal-headed man said. The one that called himself the Judge. The one that weighed his heavy heart and gave it back in disgust of all the sins it held.
The city was full of monsters and undead. People out to kill him. A war likely was brewing down there. And if there wasn't, he'd make one. A war, with flames strong enough to warm a long dead body.

Immaculate heads to the exit of the rooftop, and makes his way down to the city streets.

> Look for someone who seems to have a problem.
> So he can grasp at them.
> So he can make their problems worse.

Zelda Fitzgerald - Default form - Hospital

Consume the Blood of Christ

That's that the bottom of what apparently is Zelda's release papers. They basically just say that she has recieved enough treatment for her Schizophrenia and that she had been recovering well.

I have Schizophrenia, what?

Zelda picked up the release papers and stuffed them into her art kit. It's better to keep them there in case she forgets.

She then traversed through the hospital, trying to find the exit. The rusted metal gurneys, the charred remnants and the overall isolation disturbed Zelda to her core. She wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, but it doesn't seem that she's close to the exit, distressing her.

After some time, she eventually found the exit much to her relief.

> Head into the city.

> Find someone and ask if they know where to find the Blood of Christ.

Dixon regarded the imp on his shoulder with a blink. A weird little fellow. He didn’t know exactly what to make of him, but something within him told him the two were bound together for this endeavor.

“Somewhere out there, presumably,” he answered, turning to the windows. The light from the sky above came through in equalized segments, hitting the gym in stripes between shadows. He looked at the calendar again, noticing the ornate calligraphy in stark contrast to the task at hand.

For old time’s sake he gave one of the heavy practice bags a right cross as he walked out, knocking it off of the hook and across the gym, sand spilling out from the point of impact. The imp watched, dumbfounded. The robot said nothing.

> Venture into the city proper

Bob sighs at the loud pinging noise, and mutes his computer.

"Not right now, this is the good bit!"

He then leans back in his gaming chair, and watches the anime again. As he sits and watches yet another season, he thinks about those pings. Maybe I should have checked them. Eh, it's my year of rest. I earned this. He then goes back to finishing up the season.

SIX HOURS LATER

“Good show. You know, I wonder other people feel about it. Lemme see..."

Bob then pulls up the Crunchyroll anime forum for classic anime. Yes, he did pay 23 bucks a month for access to the forums. How did you know? He's just about to make a post when...

His thumb slips, and he's on Discord.

Edited by Playing_with_boy on Apr 15th 2023 at 7:35:34 AM

“...What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

So, expecting this place to offer anything more than ‘cryptic mythological missive’ was veering a little hopeful. The look of the situation feels like something out of a YA novel, or from the labours of an ancient odyssey ... the hero set up with some nebulous prophecy, teased that the shrewd scholar in him might be able to work out some folk reference between the words that everything magically happens to tie back into. Forget the fantasy of latent superpowers, why not gush at the tantalising, forbidden-fruit prospect of a degree in religious history.

The First Seal. Caine help me, it’s every kid’s fucking dream. Maybe I should’ve read up on it more in life myself, but practicality was always a bigger concern on my mind.

In any case, however mysterious contents of the instructions aside, there was the matter of finding a way to follow through with them - and more pressingly, in the daytime. The sun would kill me, but for all I know dallying just as well could sooner. One week-limit or not I’m not familiar with how the hours move here, and an unfinished task by the end of the day would spell the end of the line; a game over meant that I’d be a burning pile of flesh regardless of whether I made the decision to step outside.

I don’t even remember the last time I saw light out. Funny how fast things can change sometimes... Seems in any case they aren’t going to make this easy for me.

A cursory glance through the shit on the floor for aid reveals precious little. There is, of course, the thing made of Victorian lace. Courtesy of the Judge, as with Stephanie Meyer’s timeless pulp. Somehow I doubt he has my best interests in mind.

>Experimentally approach the sunlit part of the cave, wielding my ridiculous umbrella. And - carefully - test that theory.

>If the height of the day doesn’t prove oppressive enough to either instantly reduce me to ash or ax the possibility of clear vision, I’ll get a start in scouting out the area. A pinch of sorcery from my blood should make things quicker... well, that, and hopefully more bearable.

Pontius

"Kinsssmen?" Envy hisses, its form shimmering around your shoulders. "In a placcce like thisss? You're delusssional." It snickers derisively.

However, as you flit through the treeline, you spot something below you... A large round object, made from black Victorian lace. A parasol, you think, which means someone must be beneath it.

However, that's of less concern to you than the large spirit wolf you spot trailing the umbrella, glaring up at you and growling menacingly.

Amogus

The cat's ear twitches.

"No hard feelings, huh? Isn't that my call to make? Maybe I do have hard feelings, over you saying that about my dear mother. Maybe I'll just crawl back into my vent and disappear," they remark, beginning to do just that.

"Maybe I'll go and tell the Judge you guys don't need an Eye!" They say, their voice now echoing from the walls all around you. "How about that, huh? Not like I wanted this dumb job anyways! No skin off my back! No fur off my tails! Suit yourself!"

Immaculate

You descend to the bottom of the tower, which has over a 100 floors. The elevator is broken, so you are forced to take the stairs. By the time you reach the bottom, you are a little out of breath, to say the least. You stop to catch it for a second, looking up to observe your surroundings.

You seem to be nearby the city square, though separated by a few blocks. Directly in front of you is a massive stone statue of a man in a suit, who you assume to be the founder. The Undead seem to flock here in large numbers, paying reverence to the statue. Odd, but at least they're leaving you alone.

Once you've caught your bearings, you get up to continue your search, but just then, you hear a voice behind you. You turn to see a middle-aged woman in very antiquated clothing and glittery ballet slippers, trying to get your attention.

Zelda

You venture out in search of help, but the search is a difficult one. The city is large, and with only seven sinners about, the streets are left barren. Well, barren except for the Undead. Eventually you manage to catch on that they all seem to be shambling in the same direction. Curious, you give them a follow, figuring it's the only lead you can find.

Soon enough, you come across the city square, where the Undead are gathering at an office tower some blocks away. Amongst them, you spot a man with a rifle on his back - though it looks unlike any rifle you've ever seen - and a purple longcoat. Relieved at finally finding another soul in this city, you call to get his attention.

Dixon

You wander the city streets, searching for your target. The Lamb of God... You wonder what it might look like, or where it may hide. Alas, you're not sure where to start.

You find yourself in the housing district, surrounded by various apartments of all kinds. Each complex has a different look and feel to it, even if slight in some cases. Though of course, all of them are empty. Well, all except one.

You're distracted from your search by the sound of a high-pitched noise. Searching for the source, you find yourself at the entrance to a basement apartment, and from hear you can hear the sound more clearly.

It's the high-pitched voices of anime girls.

Bob from Ohio

You have 54 unread DMs. Each of them reads the same identical message.

Noe

You tentatively approach the opening of the cave, your parasol held up carefully. From here, the light of the sun stings at your skin. It's quite uncomfortable, but otherwise bearable. However, you're not sure how much that'll be the case once you're out from beneath the treeline.

Regardless, you deem this "good enough" and step out to do some scouting. You wander the woods for a short while, but it isn't long before you hear a growling from behind you.

This is the first time you spot your Sin, as it had been invisible within the cave. A large nine-tailed wolf spirit, floating a few inches above the ground. It's looking up at the trees and growling. However, you're certain that if you look up after it, you'd be blinded by the sun.

What do you do?

Edited by Afterwards on Apr 16th 2023 at 8:04:13 AM

Pontius scoffs at his wyrm. “You know not! Why… look down there! Perhaps a pixie princess with a parasol. Though… heavens!”

Pontius kicks in the air at the sign of the wolf. “A mongrel hound! Well, I suppose I should have anticipated that I’d have to prove myself in combat… I’d only wish I’d have a larger sword.”

Pontius unsheathes his rapier, and points it below him. “I shall have to manage… have at ye, beast!”

>Pontius flies down at the wolf with his sword, attempting to scare it away from the figure with the parasol

Immaculate never liked stairs. And he certainly did not like these stairs, the ones that descended straight into hell. As he stopped to catch his breath, he wondered if he had a cigarette, one he could turn on and take a nice, long hit off of.

Unfortunately for him, it was an addiction that didn't seem to come along with him to the underworld, as his pockets turned up empty. He does, however, pull out that notebook that he had had when he first came here. He's not sure why the Judge gave him such a luxury. Maybe the Judge was the scientific type, wanting him to document every aspect of his pain to improve the satisfaction of his damned souls.

He flips through it as he walks past the Undead worshiping the statue. Didn't look like anyone he recognized, but something in his head tells him that it's probably the founder of this city. He wondered why the Undead worshiped something that build a desolate grid of buildings amongst an endless void, trapping them. There was something strangely poetic about being trapped by a world that you only know how to love, wasn't it? Maybe that was the pleasure they got out of it, knowing they were trapped but finding warmth in a totalitarian grip. Or maybe they sought the pleasure of knowing that it was better than being lonely out in whatever void remained outside the city.

That was good. Immaculate smiled to himself, and pulled the pen out from behind his ear, and began to write it down while he continued to look for another damned soul. And then, he hears the woman.
She looked beautiful, but in the way an abandoned mansion did; decadent, but lost to something unknown. Her way of dress seemed old, but he couldn't pin down why, but the slipper seem to get his attention. They shone with decadence, and something in the back of his mind speaks about what sort of lives could have been held on to with the money those must have cost.

He calls back to her, confident and loud. "You seem like you're lost, out here wearing those shiny damn shoes out on this fucked town. You sick of them already? Or maybe trying to call the attention of all those living dead out there in case your voice gives out?"

Zelda Fitzgerald - Default Form - Into the City

Upon arriving in the City, Zelda hastily followed the Undead. The lack of any other living being unnerved her but she must march forward if she wants to make any progress on her goal.

After some time, she stumbled unto a man in a purple coat and a fancy rifle. At long last, someone alive and well. She called out towards him and it caught his attention, prompting a response from him.

"O-Oh, hello sir!" Zelda said. "I could be lost, but I am looking for anyone here in this city. I-I don't mind my shoes, I think they're cute. Anyway, do you know when I can find the Blood of Christ?"

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Apr 16th 2023 at 8:44:06 AM

Dixon let out a puff of steam from his grille, akin to an exasperated sigh. His internal knowledge bank recognized the end credits theme to an entertainment program that predated him by several hundred years. He had his doubts that this would get him any closer to his goal, but it was a lead, and it wasn't like there were much more of those floating around.

With a gently raised fist, he tapped out a rhythmic knock. He waited for exactly 60 seconds. Another knock. Nothing.

"I don't have time for this."

A jaunty melody entered his head as the third knock came from his foot, shaking the door from its hinges entirely. ^note Like this.

Edited by Tre on Apr 16th 2023 at 12:39:49 PM

Immaculate looks back at Zelda, almost seeing through her as he continues to talk. "You could call them cute, I would call them conspicuous. Sure, they can look good, but I'm the type that thinks that if you need something like that to think someone looks good? Your eyes are stepping through shallow seas, unaware of what depths could really lie if you do not dive in and plunge deeper into the darker trenches that may not look so beautiful."

Well, moving on.

"Now, if you're looking for someone in this city, no wonder you seem to call towards the dead. They seem to cluster here towards that stone statue right now, but it's no Christ, it's no saint, it just seems to be some founder for a place that doesn't seem worth the time to be in if our very souls were not at stake. But well, we are here. And all we can do is grasp the opportunity in our hands, fan the flames and fight back against our very judgement, if you are with me!"

Holy shit, does this guy ever shut up.

"And if you are, I can assist you with finding...the blood of Christ, did you say? Well, if you are searching for a good red wine, I am very much willing to assist you to also find a drink in this city. Wine good enough to be embodied by the Savior himself."

Zelda Fitzgerald - Default Form - City

Zelda nodded as she listened to Immaculate. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of the man but he was talking about "fanning the flames of war" or something. He did offer to help her at least.

"T-Thank you. I didn't know it was a red wine, so that's appreciated. Please take me to where it is."

"Well, of course." He grabs Zelda's arm, and continues to walk, probably dragging her along. "Now, I assume you are yet another soul who has been judged by that dog-headed man, that one who I will personally say, has verdicts that are much less fair than his looks, to be full of sin, deceit, debauchery, despotism. You look too beautiful to be among the undead, and far too lost and clueless to be an angel. Wonder what brought you here? Greed? Envy?"

He continues to walk, aimlessly. It's increasingly clear he has no idea where he's going, he's just looking for anything that sort of looks like it would have red wine. Something in his mind tells him that's supposed to be what the blood of Christ means: coffee and blood stained pages and scribbles in his notebook writing about an improvised communion seemed to lead towards that hunch.

"And what makes you look for this Blood, anyways? Specifically, to consume it? To bite into it and feel the pain in your mouth as it runs down your face?"

The underbrush gives way with relative ease as I make my way through it in a blur - normally I'd be more conservative with the use of my vitae, but I figure any influence from hunger comes second to my goals in purgatory. The city we were supposedly dropped off in couldn't be far ahead. Still, it can't hurt to err on the cautious side; the canopy must at least be thinning out by now and I don't want to be stranded when it does.

So, I slow down at the edge of a clearing to get my bearings, if only for a brief moment. I take in my surroundings. Nothing man-made in sight just yet. There's something of an unfamiliar aura in the air, magic coursing through the mud under my feet like its lifeline... almost like a fairytale world, oddly enough. I feel the crawling sense that someone's watching me, and

That's around when I hear it.

The Judge called it Greed. The so-called culmination of a life of depravity and indulgence, with my challenge to his verdict the catalyst for its birth; it stands as tall as ever in its canine form now, and it's high on alert. A sentinel that would guard itself just as single-mindedly as my own heart.

Pitch black as the void. It's fitting. The thing is snarling, then, too, gaze searing holes into something it sees far beyond- but whatever it is, it's a step ahead of my reach, and I don't know if I have the time to weigh my options...

>I'm about to turn and get a move on when I hear it lunge. Muttering curses under my breath, I slip out the closest thing to a weapon this place's given me - the switchblade - and sidestep behind my attacker in a blink, standing with my Sin's howl in my ears and my back to the sun.

It burns, but if this unknown Greed finds so threatening really is out for my hide, I can't be worried about a few seconds of collateral. The light's blocked enough for me to see, and I get a good look at the situation in front of me...