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Autumn{v} The Hall of Endless Masquerades! Where reflections, masks, music and champagne are all, underwear can be found scattered around, and you really don't want to know what those ashes, this blood, or those stains are from! And Smiling Autumn returns from a little trip... and finds Venus, painting a little symbol on her cheek with... whatever crimson thing is dripping from his fingers.
venus{A} scrunches up her face, ducking away a little from his fingers. "Ugh, is that blood?"
Autumn{v} looks at his hand, making odd gestures to himself, then licks the tip of his fingers. "Um. Indeed, it is! I think it's the maiden's. Or was it the lover? Anyways, another productive day, Ven Veni Ven?!"
Autumn{v} offers his hand. "Want some?"
venus{A} "Um, no thank you." she smiles weakly. "I just had some... something."
Autumn{v} jumps on the couch with Vee, painting on her other cheek. "So, what's up, Vee?"
venus{A} shrugs and gestures vaguely towards the room. "I started to clean up, but then I gave up."
Autumn{v} looks around... then takes off his mask, a harlequin mask with a smile far too wicked and twin crimson tears, kissing Venus' lips. "Hmmm, restless?"
Autumn{v} "I can always take you to my next assassination if you wish. Though I think Lookshy's next anyway."
venus{A} "Do you assassinate people a lot?"
Autumn{v} "That... depends on who you are comparing to! Compared to some, alot, compared to others, too little, compared to cats, nothing at all! But compared to hares? Far too much! Which are you, for me to compare to?"
venus{A} "I suppose I'm more of a hare than a cat." she grins, "I mean.. I don't really assassinate people much."
Autumn{v} "It is never too late to begin, is it?"
venus{A} "Must I? I mean, fighting is one thing. But assassinating people... well... what did they do to deserve that?"
Autumn{v} "The rush." He touches her hands... "The power. You know you can bring joy. You know you can bring the end. You choose which. And as for deserve... we all did something that deserves punishment. All of us. And someone has to decide wether the punishment is hot wax... or cold fingers."
venus{A} shivers a little. "So that's what you do in Heaven? It's not anything like I expected here at all."
Autumn{v} "'What I do'? No, That is just one of those things. It is my... extra-curricular activity! The things I do... create great loves. Grand affairs. When I walked out, I also made sure a girl looked at a boy she had never seen, and made sure they would be together... ended a love that would bring no fruit but sorrow... and made sure that a married women fell to her basest desires with whom she thinks she should not. Joy. Love
venus{A} "But, you're not a god... I mean, are you? You look human, not like the other gods I've seen."
Autumn{v} begins to giggle... and then laughs, picking her arms and pressing them against the couch, face close to her... and beggining to shine, pure azure light, the symbol shining on his forehead. "Human. But I have not aged since I was nineteen and she touched me. And made me A-na-the-ma. Blessed and Chosen with the power to bring the joy of Venus."
venus{A} 's eyes widen in fear, and her breath catches, "You're... you're an Anathema? In Heaven?"
Autumn{v} smiles. "I am anathema, as are all those friends you saw that night. Heaven is ours to shape."
Autumn{v} "Fate, ours to command."
venus{A} stares, "Oh Ahlat, what have I done?" the choker suddenly seems tight around her neck. "You, you're the ones that destroyed the Glory of the First Age, before the Dragons rose up to protect us!"
venus{A} struggles in his grip.
Autumn{v} keeps her arms against the couch, kissing her neck, just where the choker ends... "No, those were the others. We control the dragons, Ven Ven?. We control the world. We created the faith and the tale. Because we needed to destroy the children of the sun and moon, to save the world." His eyes shine, "To save the world, we lied to it. And Ahlat knows that very well."
venus{A} "How do I know you're not lying to me now?" she continues to twist in his grip, shying away from his kisses. "Nobody controls the Great Dragons! That can't be true!"
Autumn{v} "Then why are we here?" He lets go, then, walking a few steps away from her, a scarf picking the harlequin mask and placing it over his face again. "Why am I so loved in Heaven of all places, Vee? We are here, under the authority of the Maidens, the Sun and the Dragons! If they did not wish me here, the Lions could rip me apart! ... but they do not."
venus{A} looks for an avenue of escape, "Maybe because you lied to them too."
Autumn{v} "And what lie would that be?"
venus{A} "That you control the world."
Autumn{v} "But if you manae to make Heaven believe that... then the lie become truth, doesn't it?"
venus{A} "I... That doesn't make it right."
Autumn{v} "No, that does not. But once upon a time, we served golden lords. They became insane. Our silver lords became beasts. And so, we turned into our lords, and made the Dragons revolt against their lords. The dragons, weakest of all of us Chosen, of all of us Exalted. We did it to save the world, Vee."
Autumn{v} walks up to her, touching her lips with the tip of his fingers, and somehow... seeming to put so much pressure there to prevent her from getting up. "We do things to save the world. Is there anything more right?"
venus{A} tries to shake her head, and finds herself unable to, pinned beneath his single finger. Her expression crosses back and forth between annoyance at how easily she is controlled, to fear of the same. "Save it for who? You said yourself, sometimes you hurt people just because you feel like it."
Autumn{v} "Save it for everyone else. The millions upon millions of people out there. At least that is better than the Dragons. Do you know how they treat people, when they wish to, Venus? How the Great Houses of the Realm treat those beneath them? And that... that is the best we could do."
venus{A} "I used to wish I were chosen by the Dragons." she says softly. "I thought that if I were, I could change the world, make it better... until I saw some at an inne, watched them so caught up in fighting over petty things. So much power, and they used it for nothing."
Autumn{v} "That is the difference between the Dragons and us. We are trying to save the world~! I told you we were heroes, didn't I?" He lets go of the finger, bringing his lips so close to her again, whispering "... but I never said we were perfect. We are still only human, Vee. And being human means sometimes we hurt beautiful things, without meaning to, or worse, meaning to."
venus{A} tries to think of a way to point out that he and his friends are all obviously insane without making him mad. Coming up dry, she goes for, "Then.. what is your plan to save the world?"
Autumn{v} "We stop the Sun Lords from returning. We keep the Silver Lords on the borders of the world. We keep the Dragon Empire running as smoothly as it can, we keep the Demons and the Faerie out... and, um, we make sure the world works as it should in the meantime."
Autumn{v} falls down on the couch at her side, sighing. "Is it any wonder I am gone so much of the time?"
venus{A} "What happens if the Sun Lords and Silver Lords come back?"
Autumn{v} "Everything bad you have ever heard about the anathema."
venus{A} "But you're an Anathema too!"
Autumn{v} "I am a Chosen of the Stars. A Joybringer. I was created to serve the world, not rule it, Vee. And to rule it... has corrupted them. They were too powerful. Too inhuman." The scarf clicks around Venus' choker, subtly drawing her closer. "They are inhuman compared to us, Vee. They will become so, at any rate..."
venus{A} grasps the scarf near where it clasps on the choker, "how can they be more inhuman than your kind? Maybe Creation isn't meant to be ruled.""
Autumn{v} "Am I that bad, Vee?"
venus{A} realizes what she'd just said, and reaches out, touching his arm. "No... " she lets go of the scarf. "You're just confusing, and your friends, I don't know what to think of them. I never knew it would be so strange here."
Autumn{v} pushes her closer, taking off the mask once again, staring at her with his blue eyes... his face serene. Wistful. "Am I a monster, Vee?"
venus{A} looks into his eyes, then looks down. "I don't know. I think you can be, if you want to. When I tried to apologize to you in the market, you seemed like one then. You kill people, and paint with their blood.... But you've also been kind to me, and you've shown me joy, and ecstasy. You... seem to care for me, and I care for you too, even though it scares me."
Autumn{v} kisses her forehead, licking the blood that had been painted there before. "I really shouldn't care for you so much. I really shouldn't. I am a monster, sometimes. That is why we don't rule. We just guide."
venus{A} smiles a little, tilting her head up to kiss him. "Maybe I can help you keep the monster away."
Autumn{v} holds Venus close, kissing her back with the sweet taste of Serenity. "You already do."
venus{A} smiles and looks back into his eyes, "Good." She traces her fingers down his back.
Autumn{v} Closes his eyes as the scarves begin to slither around her, and when he opens them, they are simply... wicked. But different than the usual. As if they were asking her something. Telling her to trust. "But there are times... when you'd like me being a monster." His fingers trail down her body, touching every sensitive spot none but the Chosen of Venus know...
Autumn{v} ... and some time later, they are on the ground, the sheets fallen out of the couch and the bed, wax on the ground and a little over her skin... and this time, Autumn is not playing with anything. He is just holding her, watching her... "You know. You need a mask."
venus{A} looks up at him, a bit surprised. "Hmmm?" she shifts a little, to ease a newly acquired pain that she rather enjoyed acquiring. "What kind?"
Autumn{v} "Any kind!" He smiles, curling one of her braids around a finger. "When you use a mask you can be... anyone. Do anything. You can be a monster if the world needs it... and it is not you, and you cannot die if you are not you." He nods, "And you can save your self... for those you trust."
venus{A} watches him thoughtfully, "Does that mean you trust me?"
Autumn{v} "I have no masks on right now, do I?" He smiles, "Yes, I do." He says forlornly. As if he was admitting a crime.
venus{A} touches his cheek with one finger, "It's not so bad, is it?"
Autumn{v} "In my life... to trust is to die. This Heaven. You can never... ever trust."
venus{A} "Have you trusted the wrong person before?"
Autumn{v} nods. "Trust hurts, Vee. Trust kills. I died for trust before."
venus{A} "But you're still alive..." she says quietly.
Autumn{v} "There are many ways to die. Not all of them take you to lethe. I died a little on the other." He holds her hands, entwining his fingers with hers'. "On your hands."
venus{A} looks down, "I'm sorry... I didn't want to do it..."
Autumn{v} "I chose it. That was the way I chose to die, ever since. The masks go away, but I stay. Long as I have the masks, I don't have to care. I don't have to trust. Well, the Mask do. But all I have to do... is take it off."
venus{A} "they're like a shield, for you?"
Autumn{v} "They are. And they can help you, too."
venus{A} skims her nail along a hardened pool of wax, "Do you think they'll be enough to protect me?"
Autumn{v} pushes her to him by her collar, planting a kiss on her lips. "No, I will protect you. But the masks will help." He looks a little bit more somber... "That is also why I wanted the name on you. You can never be safe enough, my Venus."
Autumn{v} ((*pulls!))
venus{A} "What about when you are not with me?"
Autumn{v} taps her choker. "Then you have my name. You are mine, and whoever harms you... will have to answer to me. But a Mask helps."
Autumn{v} "Not that I think you need me soo much..." He trails one of the waxes himself, down her belly, accross her bellybuttom, his touch icy-cold, leaving trails of of melted water as if it was ice... "You don't want to kill, but you are alright with fighting, aren't you? Daughter of War."
venus{A} shivers, and blushes. "Mmm, yes." she closes her eyes. "I trained hard, to impress Him. I was one of the best of all those that I fought with." she shivers again, at the cold. "I used to have a fine bow, but I left it behind."
Autumn{v} lifts his hand, leaving cold droplets to fall from it over her... one... at a time "Where?"
venus{A} gasps, "so cold..." and then realizes he's asked her a question. "I gave it to a friend who needed it more than I did... I knew I would not be allowed to bring weapons past the gates."
Autumn{v} "You will need a better one, then." He sits down against the bed, motioning for her to come... "Do you understand what it means that I am an anathema, in power, Venus? Do you understand how powerful I am? In terms of divinities?"
venus{A} slides down next to him, touching him. "No." she admits simply. "but all the stories I've heard, they said the Anathema were amazingly powerful. They could destroy cities in their anger. "
Autumn{v} does not move, just a light tug on her leash "Those stories are right. We are that mighty. We are grand as your father, each and every one of us, the one hundred of us... a five-score fellowship. But we keep to ourselves, as we must be unseen... but I am that mighty, Venus. And being mine... is no less than belonging to your father, like his many brides. It is an honor. Unseen rather than overt... but he will reco
Autumn{v} ... but he will recognize it all the same, Bride of Serenity."
venus{A} shifts until she is sitting in his lap, facing him. "Will you show me your power?"
Autumn{v} touches her back, fingers trailing down as if playing a flute. "I will. And offer it to you. I think I can do it... make you kick all those girls of Ahlat. To be proud in front him. To make him impressed. To make him sad. To make him proud."
venus{A} "To me? But what could I possibly do? I'm not an Anathema, like you."
Autumn{v} "But you can fight. You can move. You have a destiny which I can write on. You are the daughter of a God... and there is much I can do for you. Starting with teaching you to fight. And to dance..."
Autumn{v} kisses the tip of her breasts, smiling up with an azure glow on his forehead... "But I should mention you have seen my power. Many, many times in the past few days..."
venus{A} "Fighting and dancing, hmm? I will do my best, for you..." She leans into his kisses, "Mmm I knew it was magic, but I didn't realize it was magic-magic... Gods, I never thought I'd want all those things you did to me, so badly."
Autumn{v} "Chosen of Venus. Joy is in my blood. Joy is my art. She chose me... to bring this." Simple touches in her back and a blissful sensation, a light-headedness... "You will do your best? Then begin by asking for it. If you want power..." he whispers, "Ask for it."
venus{A} closes her eyes as the thrill runs through her, then looks into his, "Teach me, Teach me your power."
Autumn{v} "That is missing something, Bride of Serenity..."
venus{A} "Please, Master," she says, bowing her head, presenting herself to him as she'd learned. "Teach me."
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