open; ongoing

[ofhope]

Who: Joshua Christopher & YOU
What: Nightmares
When: Now until the end of the plot.
Where: Crazy brainspace idk
Rating: R for bloodshed and probably more as it actually gets bad.
Notes: While your character will be taking Joshua's place in the beginning of the dream, that may (or may not) change depending on the choices they make. This single nightmare can branch off into several different ones.

It's been such a long journey, you feel. There's nothing to worry about anymore. What were your worries, again? Nevermind, they hardly matter. You're with what you might consider a family, no matter how strange they seem. They're no stranger than you. The woman with the feline ears is willing to eat your vegetables for you, her tail swishing back and forth playfully, but the well-to-do maid really thinks you need to eat your carrots.

The atmosphere is comforting, and not at all rushed. Until a tall man with magnificent presence enters the room to announce that it's almost time. Time for what?

Nothing, dear. Nothing. Just the end of the world.

Oh, right. Of course. Pandaemonium does need to be eradicated. What it is, what it means, that doesn't really matter to you anymore. You understand that right now, nobody has a more important role than you. You are an Apostle, you are needed, and you will serve humanity's final moments on a silver platter. Around you, beyond you, it is war.

Atop this floating palace (prison?) in the sky, there is no shortage of bloodshed. But none of it touches you. None of it needs to. The Sinners, somehow, have completed their goal. Human bodies litter the ground, though most of them have fallen to their deaths far, far below; down to the earth that mimics a charcoal stubbornly clinging to it's last spark...before it turns to ash. The great Pandaemonium and it's queen are at the bottom of the ocean, surely.

The demons have suffered their own casualties, both from Pandaemonium's side and Aion's. But none of those deaths matter to you, not really. Nobody that's important should have died. Fiore, the doll that is a maid, should come along any minute now to straighten out your clothes. No doubt Aion will clap a hand on your back in congratulation.

But nobody comes at first. The silence is eerie, after being bombarded with gunshots and astral explosions. The sky is clear, but there are no stars. No sun, no moon, despite the sky being alight with energy, green and golden and blue and flickering in and out. But a voice soon rings in your ears, all music and light, and your spirit is once more lifted. The lights in the sky seem only brighter. You know this song. Where from?

♪ None sing so wildly well
as the angel Israfel
And the giddy stars (so legends tell)
ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
of his voice, all mute ♫

You turn. She's beautiful, with hair long and golden, a silken white gown trailing behind her bare feet as she slowly walks closer to you, the pools of blood never daring to touch her feet. A white veil is over her face, sheer but not, leaving only her glistening lips visible, but it doesn't matter. The reason for your fight is here, and she wants you to finish the song that you share.

Do you know it? She looks expectant, and you sing back before you can help yourself, the words coming to you as if you've known them all along.

♫ Tottering above
in her highest noon
The enamored moon
blushes with love
Yes, Heaven is thine; but this is a world of sweets and sours
Our flowers are merely flowers
And the shadow of thy perfect bliss
is the sunshine of ours ♪

Her smile widens, and the girl holds out her bouquet of sunflowers. But just as you lean in to smell them, they wilt and darken, becoming limp and lifeless in her hands. The edges of her smile curve downward. This isn't how it's supposed to go.

That small concern brings a moment of clarity, a nagging in the back of your mind. This isn't normal. This isn't you. Is it? What's really going on, and who is she? Why is she important? Do you stay? Do you go? Your memories, your very identity, it suddenly seems more muddled than before.