(no subject)

[wisdomwithin]

Who: Caster, Oichi, and many others who want to stop them
What: The atrocities begin. The Church will be the first to go.
Where: The Church
When: 1/18/12, during the first sermon
Warnings: Fair amount of violence and gore



The noise had fortunately died down in time for Sunday where drones would customarily flock fraction at a time for worship down at the Church. Without distraction and interruption, the drones and others are allowed to fill the pews and listen to nothing but the word of God interpreted by the drone pastor. Usually a male, he would incorporate his message to achieving prosperity in Mayfield and urge the other drones to be thankful for what they have. The doors closed and the drones sang their hymns along with the melody of the pipe organ an old woman played just at the corner of the room.

They seated themselves. But the organ did not stop. The old woman's hands were off the keys, yes, but from somewhere, the hymn continued. The drones didn't pay this any heed and continued on as if they heard nothing. It was exactly that, however. To them, there is nothing to respond to because there should be no organs playing at this time. The time for hymns has ended long past. This did not stop the song from outside, however. The organ played on, grew louder, and filled the room where the congregation sat.

The doors once closed for the sermon swung open. A robed man with dirty, messy hair and bulging, frog-like eyes barged into the room accompanied by a quiet, morose woman. Caster closed his eyes and stretched out his arms, basking in the warmth of light that filled the room. The drone pastor stopped and told the man to quickly be seated, but it was Caster's turn to ignore him.

"Now! Friends! Now, and forevermore, we stand together here once more in pursuit of salvation that has long since been snatched away by God Himself! The damned are forever damned and the lost and forgotten will forever be abandoned. Our suffering, our cries, do nothing but amuse Him even more!

Then, then what are we, the broken, to do...? If God insists on depriving us of Paradise, why, we shall take it back! We will create our own Paradise here on this world through pleasures and sin the likes of which He, that divine clown, could never have concocted during Genesis. Let us plant the seeds of our Paradise now, starting in one of His houses that He has blessed!

O Lord! Receive my praise! Receive my hate! With a heart filled with jubilation, I shall drag you, venerated God, down from your sanctum! There is beauty within blasphemies, decadence, and sin and it is through that beauty where we make our stand and create our new Eden!

Innocent lambs, feel with every fiber and cell of your being, the salvation that I offer you!"

As Gilles' speech rolled on, the drones found their body involuntarily convulsing. They all felt from within their stomachs something growing. It clawed out at every direction, ever organ, to break free, biting and screaming all the while. Teeth and tentacles ripped through the drones' skin and bodies without anybody spared. The demons cried out into the air, spitting blood and red mist, as if singing along with the hymn that Caster had been playing.

A pipe organ made from flesh sits outside, playing on its own. Its discordant melody spreads through the air, beckoning those near the Church to come. The invitation, of course, is not only limited to the townspeople. Its pierces through worlds and dimensions, drawing forth the creatures that God had hidden away from mortal eyes for being far too terrifying, too flawed. Drones around the Church were torn apart from the inside, leaving only Caster's sea demons to replace them. The Church itself began to turn to flesh as it was consumed little by little by the overwhelming number of monsters.

From within, Caster cackled and danced, spinning around, joyously, at the garden of sin he created.

"Come, come to me! There is none but I, Gilles de Rais, who stands so firmly at the center of Heaven and Hell! Come to me, and I shall lead you! I shall rule you! To those who are shackled, crippled, and forsaken, this is the day we indulge and drink deep from our sins!"

OOC: Feel free to divide into groups! There are people who should hold off the demons seeping out of the Church and those who should storm in and tear a new one into the Master and Servant

Comments

Inside the church

[demonqueen]

[Oichi had followed Lord Bluebeard on his quest against the Xavists. She rather liked his speech, so very earnest. The shadows at her feet writhe and arms rise up from the ground around her. They flail a bit randomly, knocking over pews and sometimes people. But aren't directly attacking anything yet. She does break several of the larger stained glass windows and smiles at the shards as they fall, singing in a soft voice.]

On and on the road does go,
Down into the world below...
Off you went to call the king,
You wish to hear the Devil sing...

Inside the church

[labarbebleue]

[Bluebeard gives a smile and looks over at his Master who seemed to do exactly as he wished. She drank deep from sins and even sang while doing so. While she and Ryuunosuke had remarkably different characteristics, it was always nice to have a Master that was so understanding to him. It was truly a blessing.]

I had intended to ask you, Oichi, but... what is that song you are singing?

Re: Inside the church

[demonqueen]

[She pauses thoughtfully, and one of the shadow hands brings a slightly larger shard of the glass down for her perusal, tilting it this way and that in the light.]

I don't know..... I've always sung that song...

It's...pretty.

[labarbebleue]

If you would sing to me the entire song, I would be delighted to have it written down, my dear. It is indeed a pretty song.

Art in all forms must be preserved without exception... before any philistine decides to erase it.

[demonqueen]

[She gives him a small smile, snd then starts the song from the beginning.]

Deep in the shadow's depths there's a place,
Where devils and demons presence does grace.
Petals fall and flowers whither,
Voices call 'Come now, come hither.'
In the dark the girl so bright,
Got up to see the day by night.

[Here the hands drop the glass shard and begin clearing a path to the the altar. Mostly by just tearing through whatever is in their path.]

Wander freely, wander far,
Off beneath the Devil's star.
The white of flesh, the white of bone,
The worms will leave your soul alone.
Her fear in hand, her fear in heart,
Her fear did tug her soul apart.

[And then they pick up Oichi and set her down gently behind the altar, facing the largest, and only remaining, intact window in the Church. She stares up at the iconic religious image dreamily and continues singing.]

On and on the road does go,
Down into the world below.
Off you went to call the King,
You wish to hear the Devil sing.
Ask you will and ask you may,
The fate of love on this fair day....

[As the song ends, she smiles, and a larger hand forms from several smaller ones. She probably intends to smash this one in a single hit.]

Are you watching me? Brother....?

[adropofjupiter]

[It had been the surge of dark magic that had caught Marisa's attention at first. She'd been nearby the church observing some drones being affected by a certain barrier around what the witch considered a shrine, but that much dark magic couldn't be ignored. She narrowed her eyes, trying to pinpoint its source when the organ started playing. Whelp, that made it easy.

Flying over, she landed on the church and closed her eyes. Hand up before her, she used a wide area search spell to take note of what magical signatures were below her, inside the church.]

Demons?

[This wasn't the first time she'd encountered demons, but this was an usual amount of demonic energy. Someone had summoned these monstrosities here. They HAD to have a powerful focus.

Mini-Hakkero in hand, she cast an invisibility spell on herself and slipped inside the church through an upper window. Crouching high up on the rafters, broom in hand, the witch took in the sight, looking for the source of that dark magic and get a sense of what was going on.]

[labarbebleue]

[Caster, as Oichi begins to sing, reaches out for one of the Bibles sitting on a pew. He opens the leather-bound book and rips out a few pages. Taking a pen found nearby, he begins writing inside the Bible both the notes of Oichi's song as well as the lyrics. He could do this much as an artist. After all, the man once tried writing a play with over two-hundred roles and yet more ludicrous amounts of scenes. It would be surprising if he didn't have a role in the orchestra either.]

The imagery, my dear... there is almost a sense of peace mixed with agony brought by them, but oh, how it describes death, those beyond, that which mortal, upright men shun their eyes from...

[Caster closes his eyes and brings his hands and pages closer to his chest. He breaths deeply and sings a verse from Oichi's song.]

Aaah~ "Wander freely, wander far
Off beneath the Devil's star
The white of flesh, the white of bone,
The worms will leave your soul alone."

It's truly creativity at its finest, Oichi!

[demonqueen]

[She lets the large hand smash the window, giggling softly as the glass falls.]

Everything is so fragile.

....And so pretty when it breaks.

Inside the church

[photonicfighter]

♪ BGM: Ar Tonelico - EXEC_RIG=VEDA/. (Repeat)

[Drone-Aurica was still Aurica to her, no matter how much time had gone by. Although Dakki suspected sometimes that it was just her own wishful thinking, she could see flickers of Aurica's real self in that drone. Such as her insistence in attending church services. And as of late, Dakki had been agreeing to attend with her. It seemed to make Drone-Aurica happy. And she had become curious about this world's religious beliefs.

So there Dakki sat in the pews, listening to the sermon with a mild interest. But her attention started to drift upon hearing that organ music. She turned around when the scraggly bug-eyed fellow started his own counter-sermon, an arm going protectively around Drone-Aurica.

It was extremely alarming when her not-daughter suddenly convulsed and horrible monster-things began to burst forth from her. This was many different interlocking layers of wrong, wrong, wrong, which kept her paralyzed with shock for several long, valuable moments. By the time she had tossed her drone daughter's remains away and had pulled her photon saber into existence, the pews were already swarming with monsters.]

...That's enough! THAT'S ENOUGH OF THIS!

[And she began to carve her way through the abominations one by one, working her way towards where she last saw the Master and the Servant.]

Inside the church

[labarbebleue]

[Carving through the abominations one by one may not work this time. As Dakki moves onto the next, she ignores the ones she already cut a few times before. This gives them enough time to respawn as a wall of flesh forms around them. Caster gasps as he sees Dakki charge at both him and Oichi. From behind Dakki, though, fanged tentacles reach out at her legs to stop her from her assault.

Caster backs away and from his robes, he pulls out the Spellbook of Prelati and opens it up, muttering a few incantations. A purple mist made up of prana spills from the Spellbook and begins to surround Oichi's form. Oichi might find that her body and weapons have been Reinforced, making her several times stronger than what she was normally.

He prepared for such an occasion, but never thought it would happen so soon.]

Welcome, my dear girl! Are you here to enjoy the feast with us...? There is much to consume and imbibe in the spread that I have prepared just for the occasion.

... Or are you here to stop us? That anger in your eyes is a familiar sight...

My Master, what would you propose that we do, hmmm...? We can't have things end so early on...

Re: Inside the church

[demonqueen]

[The shadows do stop, and pull in closer to Oichi. She looks at the approaching woman with confusion. She seems angry for some reason. But why?]

Enough....?

Is it really? Have I.... done well? Will he be pleased with me?

[photonicfighter]

[She may not have been able to dent their numbers, but she was capable of carving herself a path to the source. And her eyes were only focused straight ahead, assuming that a dead monster would remain dead.]

-hyaah!

[That's the sound she made when her legs were abruptly jerked from behind. She fell to one knee, and then began to be pulled backwards.]

You're sick! This is unforgivable! This is a holy place! Of course I'll stop you!

[One hand snaps out and grips tightly onto the solid edge of a pew. Her other hand releases its grip on her photon saber, and it vanishes in a flash of blue light. In its place appears a handgun, and she fires several shots at each of them. They're perfectly normal Mayfield bullets. And it's likely that reappearing monsters will absorb the impact if their defenses don't. Still, she has to try.]

[labarbebleue]

[The handgun has minimal effect. Its bullets indeed pierce through the monster's skin, but it lacks the feeling of pain to know that it had just been hit. It automatically begins regenerating as if nothing had happened. The demon continues to pull at Dakki's legs, testing her grip on the pew. It draws closer as several others do.

Caster smiles and watches what is just about to unfurl.]

Indeed you have, Oichi. You have done superbly up until now, why... I do not think anybody can be displeased with your efforts.

That is why we should continue so that so many others would be pleased as well. Why, this girl... we are about to bring her salvation.

[demonqueen]

Oh, how wonderful! To be given such salvation. Our guest is truly fortunate.

[The shadows begin writhing excitedly.]

Inside the church

[shotapope]

Alessandro had wanted to see what sort of services the drones did for themselves. It had to be different than what they did back home, and so far it was. Not a whole lot different, but different enough to be interesting to him. He wasn't with the congregation though, the idea of being surrounded by drones made him incredibly uneasy, and a crowed like that in general was uncomfortable for him. Instead he had found a place away where he could observe. He was in a good enough mood so far, it didn't seem as frightening a prospect as he had first thought it might be.

That is, until the music outside started and then the monsters came heralding the two new arrivals.

Watching the drones be ripped apart from the inside was horrifying. Alas, it was not something entirely alien to the young Pope, but it still shocked him, froze him in place. He was too scared to scream, he was too scared to cry, at this point he was even too scared to faint, though his body felt ready to do so at any time. What should he do? He needed help....

Re: Inside the church

[demonqueen]

[The shadowy hands lift Oichi up and deposit her neatly in front of the boy. She gives him a small smile.]

Good day, Lord Otomo. How goes the spread of your Xavism lately?

Inside the church

[shotapope]

[He starts to shake more, since he already was shaking quite a bit. Who was this lady Who was Otomo? He didn't understand.]

I-I'm s-sorry.... I... I d-d-don't understand.....

Re: Inside the church

[demonqueen]

[She pauses at the sight of his tears. And very gently reaches out a hand, brushing them away.]

Do not cry. You need not die if you surrender, Lord Otomo.

/authorized threadjack

[birthmarked]

[Esther's drone husband had insisted on attending. Even if he hadn't Esther was a woman of God. She would have come of her own violation to try to make sense of everything going on in her life right now. Silly her not remembering how awful things could get. Esther too has seen horrors like this in her young life like the Pope. Difference being she knew how to take action during them.

She put the sight of her drone family's fate behind her once she sees what is happening between this woman and the Pope. She races over to Alessandro and pulls him behind her little after this woman touches him.]

Don't you dare put your hands on him after what you did to these people! [To Alessandro.] Stay behind me. It'll be okay.

[shotapope]

[He was about to cry more, surrender? What was she talking about? But then a young red head came over and started protecting him. He was confused at first but when she spoke he recognized her voice. It was the girl Esther, she couldn't have been more than a few years older than him.]

Wh-what's going on?

[sonthatdisappoints]

It definitely had little in common with the churches he remembered back in Sixth-Century Britain, and Mordred hadn't really been paying attention. Even after all this time, the things that confused him the most about the current era were the things that had existed in some form in his own. It was the change itself that confounded him the most.

But the appearance of the crazed newcomer -- much less the demon-creatures he had summoned -- definitely wasn't normal by either standard.

It was a good thing he'd brought Clarent -- a knight kept his sword on him at all times -- because those tentacled demons were not going to slay themselves. With his standard battle yell, he charged the nearest one, slashing at even as he burst into action.

[labarbebleue]

Mordred's sword sliced through several demons at a time. Leaking blood and corrosive red mist, they fell easily. Some tried retaliating by swiping their tentacles at Mordred. Once an enemy is assuredly killed, a warrior is less likely to pay attention to him. The demons were indeed killed by Mordred's blade, but whether or not he notices it, a wall of flesh rises from their corpses, exploding into yet more demons. They lunged right for Mordred's back.

Caster noticed another struggle begin. His eyes and mouth were wide open as he looked at the figure of this new enemy. There was something different about "her", but there was little doubting that this was Jeanne d'Arc.

"Jeanne... You've finally come, Jeanne! Ahh, my maiden, you never were one who could ever tolerate my atrocities... for I am he who stands against God Himself."

[sonthatdisappoints]

The homunculus, though skilled, nevertheless couldn't anticipate every possibility, lacking the Intuition skill of his 'father'. He was struck abruptly in the back, nearly knocking him off balance.

With a hoarse and angry-sounding cry, the knight spun and lunged back, expending more energy than he otherwise should have. It was one thing he never seemed to learn; keeping a cool head when things seemed to be trying to frustrate him deliberately.

But he was a bout to become angrier still.

"...Maiden?"

Another tentacle beast met with a rage-filled swing.

"Maiden?! I am a man, you half-witted oaf!"

[labarbebleue]

A male? Caster is taken aback at Mordred's startling revelation. The voice certainly sounds masculine, although there are hints of femininity that resemble the voice of his Jeanne well enough. He closely examines the boy as he fights the demons who despite the knight's best efforts are continuously lunging for him, attempting to consume him whole.

"... A man... then... Why do you look so much like my Holy Maiden? ... who are you to share her face and gallant form...?"

Sorry for the wait! /sob

[sonthatdisappoints]

Mordred's angry expression was quickly replaced by one of confusion, even as he fought back the monstrous summoned creatures.

"I am father's son! Of course I would look like her!"

Just what the hell did the madman mean by "Holy Maiden", though?