Luxuria Intro Log

[cancrymods]

PROCEEDING...

With the real super power of teamwork, the Executors have successfully managed to make their way through the Gula Underside and defeat the previous Authority there. With Gerda now freed from her past regrets and given the power of an Executor, Gula and its inhabitants seem to be in safe hands... for now at least. More interesting – or concerning, perhaps – is the tentative ally you've gained in the form of Birdie, the mysterious girl who attacked some of your number in the Superbia Underside. While she seemed to be nothing but an enemy back then, a surprising connection has been formed with who you now understand to be the Authority of Purgatory itself. While she doesn't necessarily believe the Executors will be able to repair Purgatory, she is at least willing to admit that she shares their goals of wanting to see Purgatory restored... either to its former state, or to something new. But what does that mean for the Executors? And what does that mean for Rei supposedly born from the Authority's discarded heart? There are still many questions the Executors need to answer and as a blast of dry, hot air blows up from the next layer, you can only hope that Luxuria holds the key to at least some of them...

LUXURIA

♪♫ Wet & Dry – Sakuzyo After the humidity and noise of the Gula Underside, passing down to the Lust Layer of Purgatory initially seems like a relief. The air here is dry and sharp and though you hear noise drifting up to meet you and see a whole rainbow of lights clustered together in the dark, it doesn't seem as though it'll be quite as overwhelming as some of the bustling Layers you've had the pleasure of exploring before. But as you set foot down into Luxuria and feel the heat of the ground under your feet, you begin to wonder if you might just have hopped out of the frying pan and into the fire...

Comments

[discutio]

[He shook his head against Chiron's shoulder.]

I can't...quite say for certain what caused it. Or why me, specifically.

[schardynfreude]

Okay. [He hates this, all around.] This upsets you. Are you upset that your effort feels like it came to nothing?

[discutio]

[Another careful breath--steadier, this time.]

I am upset because I--whoever I was--loved him. And I am upset because it feels as though I could have saved him if I had tried any harder. That if I had cared worth a damn, maybe I could have helped either of you.

[schardynfreude]

[His mouth thins. This shouldn't feel so terrible. After all, Phoenix knows how much Chiron loved, still loves, Aera. And Phoenix is not attempting to break up with him or any of that. And yet.]

I saw how hard you fought, what you gave up, for his sake. I think it is safe to say that you gave a damn.

[discutio]

Then why...why do I feel as if I was completely useless?

[schardynfreude]

I cannot tell you why you chose not to fight fate. You must have had good reason.

...Tell me about him? He's so terribly important, and yet I only recall the barest, briefest glimpse of him lying on that rain-soaked altar. Come, let's sit, and you can get whatever you'd like off your chest.

[discutio]

... [He answered in a slight nod, pulling back only far enough to grasp one of Chiron's hands instead.]

If...you would want to hear it.

[schardynfreude]

[He sucks in a steady breath and moves them to the softer comfort of the living room. Does he want to hear it? Does he? Hear of this boy Phoenix loved to death or damn near it, hear of the descendant of the royal line who slew a dark beast of a man, Somnus' last hurrah?]

I'm all ears.

[discutio]

[It took a moment or two for Phoenix to attempt to collect his thoughts, breathing slow and even to pull himself together.]

We were young when we met--very young. I would presume we spent most of our lives together, from what I can recall. He was always...very kind, and far less formal than one would have expected of royalty.

[schardynfreude]

[He bites back star-crossed lovers.] It seems you got an inside view of how it all worked.

[discutio]

[well he's not wrong]

...I must have. I can't quite remember specifics. What I did or what my exact role was...it's all somewhat blurry still.

[schardynfreude]

But you know you knew him young, so you were important to each other. Perhaps you cooked for him.

[discutio]

I...did. I think...I think he was why I learned at all.

[schardynfreude]

Ahhhh, friend, perhaps, but servant to the crown as well.

[discutio]

No-…well, yes, but that wasn’t the reason. There was something…something he enjoyed that I wanted to recreate for him.

[Phoenix took off his sunglasses and pressed a hand to his eyes, trying to piece something together.]

I can’t…remember if I ever did it.

[schardynfreude]

Something you couldn't buy at a store, presumably. [Somewhere between amused and droll, his tone.]

[discutio]

[Phoenix shook his head slightly, but said little else.]

[schardynfreude]

And you loved him.

[discutio]

I did. Or the person that I was certainly did.

[schardynfreude]

I'm not entirely certain there's much point in making a distinction in this particular moment.

[discutio]

Isn’t there? I would call the distinction more crucial now than ever.

[schardynfreude]

If you insist. In any event, perhaps a sense of duty pervaded.

[discutio]

…You think this changes things, don’t you?

[schardynfreude]

I think...it should alter your perception.

[discutio]

This is…a complication, to be sure. I may need some time to contend with it.

But do you have so little faith in me, to think I would turn away from you or Achilles now?