[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/P7Vw9Fz.png[/img]
[i]Muttonhawk & Scarifar
Also featuring WrongEndoftheRainbow[/i][/center]

Wing beats roused Cinead from nodding off on Inga's back. Inga kept them aloft well above the Ironheart slopes below. They had a commanding view of the land. Cinead might have been more interested had they not been flying non-stop for a few days now. He did not know where Inga got the energy from.

He reaffirmed his grip around Mira's feathered torso, holding her close. It would be a short journey for her. She was still fast asleep in his arms.

Inga turned an eye back to Cinead and chirped happily. She nodded ahead and to the right.

In the distance, Cinead saw, was a sheer wall of mountains wholly unlike the Ironhearts to their left. These looked lifted out of the ground by the fingers of gods rather than pushed up from below. A constant cover of clouds obscured their peaks, hiding all behind them.

"That has to be it," Cinead said. "The Valley of Peace. Bring us towards it, sister!"

Inga let her wings bank them softly towards the wall. She had to beat her wings several times more to lift above the mountain walls of the valley. Excitement grew in both their hearts.

Cinead peered around to Mira's peaceful, if still, alien face. He resisted the urge to wake her now. They should not take the risk so close to their destination.

Even on gryphonback, they were a long while out. The great scale of the land around them was always obscured by altitude. Cinead had to squint to notice signs of hain villages near the waterways before the valley walls.

They closed in without heed to who might be watching their approach.

A trio of Angels, consisting of one yellow, blue, and pink-haired Angel each, were hovering nearby one of the many Nice Mountains, making their patrol around their area of the outside perimeter. 

"[i]*Yawn*[/i]... I wish I could go back home already," the yellow-haired Angel said with is hands behind his head, bored out of his wits.

"You know we can’t do that," his blue-haired companion reproached him. "It is our duty to keep watch for potential threats to the Valley of Peace." 

"Oh yes, keep watch over the endless plains of inactivity," the yellow-haired Angel retorted. "Let’s be honest here. [i]Nothing[/i] has happened for ages, other than perhaps the occasional White Giant and the Hain that come from time to time." 

The pink-haired Angel rolled her eyes in silence. Every day was the same argument between them. She kept watch on her own as the two bickered. She had to admit very little had happened since the days of Grot’s invasion. Perhaps the day would be like any other and they would return home soon.

Though, that was not to be the case. She spotted some figures coming in, and fast. "Cease your bickering, you two. We have company," she alerted the two, who turned to look over to where she pointed.

"I never thought this day would come!" the yellow-haired Angel excitedly said. He was even more impressed as he saw their method of travel. "What is that winged beast?" he asked, eyeing their mount. 

"Send the alert through the Wisps," the blue-haired Angel said as he took his position in front of the other two, raising his right hand to prepare to create a barrier. As the gryphon neared, he shouted, "Halt! Who goes there!?"

The figures caught the notice of the angels. Their reactions were hard to read from such a distance. Their shout did not stop them at first -- Inga kept flying for another two seconds before she suddenly pulled and flapped her wings up to slow down.

Cinead shouted back in a language they did not understand. "Who are you!? Is this the Valley of Peace? Are you angels?"

It was reasonable, at first, to assume the short cat-faced figure astride the winged beast did not speak their language. However, a trilling sound from the beast itself changed his expression to understanding.

"I am Cinead!" The child-sized cat-like humanoid shouted in his foreign language. The odd small feathered person in his arms did not respond. She was unconscious. "This is my sister Inga and my charge, Mira!"

The winged beast settled into circular flight around the sentries. Inga could not hover as comfortably as the angels could.

"What did they just say?" the yellow-haired Angel asked in confusion. A Wisp floated up to them and pulsated flashing light towards the Angels, translating the language and transmitting the information to them. Once it was finished, the yellow-haired Angel held his head back. "Oooohhhhhh…" 

"We are indeed Angels and this is the Valley of Peace! Now, what is your business here!?" the blue-haired Angel continued to question them.

Inga preempted Cinead with another set of otherwise beastly sounds that made no sense to any but him.

"How do you know what they're saying?" Cinead asked his sister relatively quietly.

Inga growled.

"Okay, okay..." He turned his eyes to the angels once more. "We're here to speak to Niciel. Mira is...she is dying. She needs help from the Goddess of Purity." He motioned with his eyes to the small, feather-covered, sleeping woman he held.

The pink-haired Angel moved forward, hands raised and glowing with Purity energy. "Maybe I can help. I’m an experienced healer," she offered. 

"Just let them into the Valley of Peace," the yellow-hair Angel said. "The way this creature of theirs is flying around, we can’t do anything to help them anyway."

The blue-haired Angel gave it a thought. He saw no better course of action. "Very well. Follow us," he said, guiding the way to the designated landing zone. A clearing in the trees wide enough to accomodate a flying creature many times the size of any Angel they could see.

However, as they approached the zone there was a surprise waiting for them. The Angels immediately dropped down and knelt respectfully. "Mother Niciel," they said in unison.

"[color=fff79a]Thank you for your hard work, my children,[/color]" Niciel said to them. "[color=fff79a]Allow me to do the rest.[/color]" 

"Yes, Mother Niciel," they said, and flew off to resume their patrol.

Inga caught up. With broad wing beats, she made the verdant grass bend in waves beneath her. She reared in the air to a stop above the ground. Her feet crunched into the soil.

Cinead and Inga both beheld the serene winged human-sized woman standing before them with their mouths ajar.

Perhaps they had expected a goddess to be more majestic and large. And yet, nothing about her could deny her power, glowing, warming them like the sun. She was something beyond their very thoughts. And she said barely a word to them to confirm it, they knew it so deep in their hearts.

They were dumbstruck for a long moment.

Cinead finally swallowed and peeled his eyes off Niciel. He slid down from Inga's back before carefully pulling the unconscious Mira into his arms. He held her horizontally under the knees and behind her shoulders. The lower half of Mira's wispy white cloak floated like fog underneath her.

The strange red, white, and black feathers obscured nothing from Niciel. It was a Tounic creature Cinead held as he stepped towards her.

"You must be the Goddess of Purity," Cinead said reluctantly. "...We've...come a long way."

Niciel smiled at Cinead. "[color=fff79a]I can see that. Now, let’s see if I can help.[/color]"

Looking at Mira, Niciel placed a hand just above her, using Purity energy to restore any physical damage to her body. The energy sank in to no other visual effect. Niciel knew this was merely treating the symptoms and not solving the actual problem. She could not detect a curse, but she could sense a certain emotional turmoil. It was not a problem she was familiar with solving. She wasn’t sure how much she could really do. Still, she had to try something.

Raising her hand, Niciel gathered tendrils of the pink mists of the valley, condensed them into a ball, and then gently sprinkled the mist onto Mira’s head for several seconds. When the deed was done, Niciel said, "[color=fff79a]I’m afraid all I can do at the moment is to suppress her emotions and dull the pain she feels. This is an illness I cannot fix easily. Whether she will make a complete recovery depends on her…[/color]"

Mira's chest rose as a breath entered her lips. At the audible height of the breath, her eyelids lifted open, revealing those black-for-whites pale eyes. She stared at empty space, stunned.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"The pain,"[/i][/color] Mira said, reaching a hand to her chest. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"It has been stanched."[/i][/color] She looked blankly into Cinead's eyes, then turned to the goddess. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Niciel?"[/i][/color]

Only through Mira's glassy eyes did Niciel notice Mira's construction. In her eyes were not capillaries of blood and lines of nerves. There instead were symbols. Miniscule written characters in a red calligraphy, flashing and relaying. Her feathers, upon inspection, were the same; laced with enough surface area to hold uncountable rows of symbols. Each symbol, each calligraphic character, had a simple meaning. Each meaning interacted with its neighbours. The end result was a simulacrum of life built from information made manifest and material.

But there was a pattern within. An incongruent pattern. It was the shoulders that made Niciel realise what it was. It lanced through Niciel's mind like a pleasant memory recalled with one horrible extra detail; it had no wings, yet its upper body was made for them. Mira's body was partly that of an angel. She was abominated beyond ever calling her an angel, but she was made from angel components all the same, sculpted by Toun's hand.

She looked deeper. Niciel refocused to confirm just how much of an angel Mira was. It then all lit up in her eyes.

Every single symbol was written in bright red angel blood.

A far darker memory entered Niciel's mind. The tangled corpses of her corrupted and repurified dead angels, handed to her by Toun on that awful day long ago. Each angel had been exsanguinated -- drained of blood. And now here, unmistakably, was where the blood had gone.

There was only one part of Mira's body not derived from an angel or some twisted prosthetic: A porcelain heart. Still and cold within her. It was divine flesh, a fragment of Toun marking this creature as an extension of him. It reeked of his power, disgust, and self-loathing, at least on its surface.

Mira motioned and Cinead lowered her clawed feet to the grass below. She stood, clutched her cape closer about herself, and lowered her eyes. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"You know what I am."[/i][/color]

Niciel was solemn. Her feelings mixed. Here was a product of Toun’s desecration of [i]that day’s[/i] unfortunate Angels. She thought she had left her feelings for that day behind, but it seemed life had other plans. [i][color=fff79a]So this is what he did with them…[/color][/i] She thought to herself. 

"[color=fff79a]Yes I do,[/color]" Niciel answered gravely. Composing herself, Niciel added, "[color=fff79a]But it is alright. I do not judge others for what they are. What is more important at the moment is the reason you are here. To be so ill to seek my treatment… your circumstances must be dire.[/color]" 

Cinead turned his eyes to Mira. He bowed his head nervously.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"There is no other place to go,"[/i][/color] Mira said in a monotone to the soft grass at her feet. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Please, Niciel. I need help. I need to unlock a memory."[/i][/color]

"[color=fff79a]A memory?[/color]" Niciel asked, not understanding. "[color=fff79a]But why me? If you know anything about me, you’d know that the mind is not my specialty. My healing powers are not capable of healing the mind, nor do I have the knowledge to do so.[/color]" 

Though keeping her head down, Mira answered at the same level. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"The pain you suppressed, it was produced by memories implanted within my mind. There are a number of memories that used to be hidden, and more that remain locked away. Each brings emotions, experiences. They make me play out actions. The most painful memory yet left a clue to the next memory; 'Perfection from Imperfection. It all goes to purity.' The memories are unlocked by a related experience."[/i][/color]

Cinead continued where Mira hesitated. "We thought that coming to you would unlock the next memory and...maybe resolve the pain. It's really the only thing we could think to do. If nothing else, we thought you could provide insight. There are things about the memories that do not make sense." He gestured to Mira. "She was made by Toun. We do not know why the memories were put there."

Niciel thought hard about what she should do. [color=fff79a][i]Perfection from imperfection...[/i][/color] she wondered. [color=fff79a][i]What was Toun thinking?[/i][/color] Niciel continued to question them. "[color=fff79a]What other memories have you unlocked? Perhaps they may hold a clue to this next one.[/color]"

While Mira lifted her head, she looked past Niciel with her strange eyes, frowning neutrally. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"It began with a yearning. The clue was 'enjoyment from contentedness.' When I met Cinead, in a disguise for my mission with him, the desire overtook me to...connect. I lied less to him, showing myself without a disguise at times. We grew close. He grew to me and my disguise. The memory was unlocked without my realisation."[/i][/color] She furrowed her brow. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"I felt happiness. And a small amount of pain. Normally, my disguises feel their own emotions, yet the happiness was not shed when I did away with the disguise. The memory stayed of happy closeness. Ephemeral, happy closeness. But it came with the knowledge it would not last. The pain ate away at my capabilities. It weakens me."[/i][/color]

Mira turned her head to look at Cinead. He looked back, though Mira's eyes searched for something in his. The confused pause ended with Mira turning forward again.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"The next clue was 'life from harmony.'"[/i][/color] Mira's voice lifted. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Over many years, I have acted out dances. With disguises or on my own, with no connection to my missions. I did not question it until Cinead asked me to dance. We danced. The memory was unlocked when he ended the dance with a kiss. The pain overtook me. The happiness did not balance it. The feelings have drained my ability to disguise. However, the memory itself is more."[/i][/color] Her eyes saddened as if seeing her description in front of her. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"The dance is in a sea of colour and music, painting the skies and uniting all in a gentle sway. Some global thing. It felt like all the world was dancing. And my partner is this pure creature. Something that had to be let go. Or else, to have it was to let go of something else. Something essential."[/i][/color]

Mira put a hand to her chest. Niciel could feel a strain on her magical mists as they held back a welling of something both material and emotional at once. It was a red ichor dripping from Mira's porcelain heart. Niciel felt the drop as if it were a hammer on her foot. If not for her efforts, such a torrent of the stuff would fall forth as to destroy Mira from the inside out.

Cinead picked up on Mira's pain. He placed a hand on Mira's shoulder. His own pained expression yearned to do something more to help but it was beyond his knowledge.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Your mists are stopping the happiness as well,"[/i][/color] Mira commented. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"While they are all suppressed, we must unlock the next memory. The clue is 'perfection from imperfection.' There must be an experience to unlock it."[/i][/color]

Niciel was silent for a while, processing everything she had just learned. "Enjoyment from contentedness," "Life from harmony," and now "Perfection from imperfection." If Toun was responsible for these memories Mira had, then he must have gone through quite the journey of enlightenment to have placed such clues within Mira’s mind. This did not feel like the work of the "absolute perfection" Niciel once knew Toun to pursue. Perhaps he has learned to accept the imperfections of the world, and maybe even love them.

Love…An interesting thought. Maybe-

Niciel’s train of thought stopped suddenly.

She turned her attention to Cinead and Mira. The two of them were an odd pair, yet they had gone through quite a lot. To go so far as to even [i]kiss[/i]...Their relationship was an odd one to judge, but if she had to make a guess based on all the information she had, then they were undoubtedly more than friends. Though, perhaps not at the level of being lovers [i]juuust[/i] yet. [i][color=fff79a]Perfect from imperfection, indeed, Toun,[/color][/i] Niciel thought to herself.

Smiling knowingly, Niciel said to the two, "[color=fff79a]You two have such a close bond with each other. It’s so sweet.[/color]" At the same time, she slightly decreased the influence of the mist on Mira, being careful not to remove more than what was necessary.

The effect was immediate. Mira could not stop herself smiling as a wistful reflex to the comment. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Cinead has been kind and helpful. Even with his situation."[/i][/color] Mira sighed abruptly. Tension came to her lips. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"But our previous affection was built on a disguise. I am not a suitable for...a close bond with him. Not in this form."[/i][/color]

Another two drops of ichor fell inside Mira. They were heavier than the last.

The pressure was getting tougher to handle, but Niciel pressed on. She could tell she was getting closer to the solution. "[color=fff79a]Nonsense. It doesn’t matter what your ‘form’ is at all, and the past is the past. All that matters is what you two feel for each other [i]now[/i],[/color]" she said to Mira. Turning to Cinead, she asked, "[color=fff79a]Cinead, dear, what are [i]your[/i] thoughts on Mira? It’s obvious you do not dislike her, now do you?[/color]"

Cinead quickly shook her head up at the tall goddess. "Uh, no! No I don't." His surprise at the sudden attention did not last too long. "Mira is only right in that I grew close to her when she looked like a warrior dwarf." He looked at Mira. She gave him a sideways look back and even that made him smile. "But she said it herself. She was putting herself sincerely forward in spite of her appearance. She has not changed to me." His eyes dropped down and up and he smirked. "Mira, you might look strange but I do not care about that. You're still the same woman to me."

Mira's sideways stare did not abate from Cinead. Her resting frown did not change either.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"I do not believe you understand, Cinead,"[/i][/color] Mira said.

Cinead's smile faded. He stepped forward and turned himself to face her. She did not turn to face him. Cinead's ear tilted to the side. "What's wrong? I thought..."

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Cinead,"[/i][/color] Mira spoke low. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Mortal minds have mechanisms to fall in love. I am a construct. I was never built with one."[/i][/color]

Hurt and confusion struck Cinead's face in slow motion. He held his breath as if he wanted to say something he did not know.

Another drop of ichor fell.

The pressure was accumulating quickly. Niciel worried she may not be able to keep it sealed at the level of power she was currently using. She had to reach the conclusion soon. "[color=fff79a]Maybe not,[/color]" Niciel interjected, drawing both their attentions. "[color=fff79a]But you know…I don’t think someone without the capability to love would possess the Purity of love within them. I can see it within you, Mira. You must have sensed it during your journey as well, especially during the times Cinead was with you. You two even kissed! All you have to do is recognize it and accept it.[/color]" 

While Cinead's confusion remained, Mira had to look away and think. Idly, she brought her fingers to the chain on her opposite wrist. The links chimed together as bits of clay do. She was clearly confronted.

"Is there really nothing, Mira?" Cinead asked. "I saw something back when we kissed. We had something. You felt something, too, didn't you? Something that didn't go away when you shed your disguise."

Mira's brow knitted. Niciel knew her pain through the several further drops of it coming off her clay heart. She still facing away from Cinead but her wavering voice told of the emotions she felt. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"That was the memories. If I accept that as love, the pain will..."[/i][/color] Her throat constricted.

Enough ichor leaked through Niciel's mists that Mira could hardly speak any further. Her attempt to finish her sentence failed, replaced by her pulling at one of her wrist chains until she shivered.

Niciel was unsure of where to take this now. She had used everything she could think of to get to this point, and Niciel knew she was closer still than before. Her mind raced to find another path to take. Nothing was coming to her. Then, her eyes landed on Cinead. It was obvious. She may have reached the end of her path, but he might still have a way. She just hoped it would be enough. It would have to be.

"[color=fff79a]Cinead,[/color]" Niciel said to him, smiling. "[color=fff79a]Show Mira how to love. She can’t do it without you.[/color]"

Cinead's second thoughts took only a second to wrestle. He reached for Mira's hand and hesitated. He first looked to Niciel. "You're keeping the pain at bay. Do you promise she will live?"

"[color=fff79a]I will do everything in my power to keep her from dying,[/color]" Niciel promised.

The goddess did not even finish her pledge before Inga pushed Cinead forward, forcing him and Mira into a small stumble. Mira and Cinead settled their balance with their hands on each other's arms. Inga grumbled impatiently and stepped back.

They could no longer avoid each other now. Cinead caught Mira's alien eyes. In that frozen moment, he did not have time to think of what to say. He took a small breath to start. The first words that came to his mind came out of his mouth.

"Mira...I didn't get to tell you properly...you know...before you collapsed from the last memory. Back at the rovaick settlement." He paused. She kept staring, he had to keep talking. "I didn't want to leave without letting you know something. I met you, got to know you, you opened up parts of the world I knew nothing of."

Mira's lips thinned and another drop fell within her.

"You continued to be a mystery I wanted to find out more about," Cinead continued. "Perhaps that was idiotic. Like...some child's dream to meet myths in the flesh. But after a while, I was around you because of what I already knew. I liked being around you. I wanted to make you laugh. I wanted to learn things from you. I wanted to take you places." He blinked. "I wanted to take you with me, and I knew I couldn't, and...I felt a lot of pain as well."

Cinead false-started, growing abashed. He didn't know where he was going. "What I mean to say is, maybe the pain comes with all this. Maybe we're both just anticipating separating. Look, I know I'm not weeping and spewing red liquid, but it feels like a set of claws are ripping my heart in two. I have a feeling that it doesn't have to be that way for either of us."

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"...What other way would it be? How?"[/i][/color]

"Maybe…" Cinead turned his head away for a moment. "We don't have to go our separate ways. If we knew we are always going to be there, nearby...If we knew both of us wanted to stay and we could make it happen. Well…" He looked at her again, anxious. "Then maybe we wouldn't be afraid to say we love each other."

Mira's face scrunched up like tears were about to pour. Niciel felt such a pressure of unpoured ichor from her heart that all the water in Galbar could have required a lesser dam than her mists.

"I love you, Mira," Cinead declared. "I have for some time. Would you like to stay together with me?"

The pain built and built. It almost broke Niciel's barrier.

But, in a long blink of Mira's eyes, Niciel felt all the painful ichor ignite and roar into a blue fire. The sudden change around the porcelain heart was jarring. It positively thrummed with a purity shockingly akin to the goddess' own divine trail. The ichor was consumed in the blue heat and all the cold stone glowed around it.

Mira mumbled something unintelligible.

"Say it louder," Cinead said.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"I would!"[/i][/color]

Seeing two humanoid creatures of vastly different construction throw themselves into a tearful embrace would be, to an outsider, an odd scene. To Niciel, who saw the purity of love in any capable creature, it was not only an accomplished objective, but a sight reflecting her own ideals. Purity even in the strangest or darkest of places.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"The pain is burning away,"[/i][/color] Mira whispered over Cinead's shoulder. She smiled broadly as a pair of tears dripped from her cheeks. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Stay with me. Be there. I will be with you."[/i][/color]

Cinead grinned through his tears as well. "Always."

The held each other so tightly as to wish they would fuse forever. Tounic characters shut down to conserve energy in Mira's swelled carefully back to the forefront. The ichor no longer held her back.

Not only that, but the long overdue acceptance of feelings had behind it a new presence.

Mira noticed it, too. The moment between them was stuck with a needle that made Mira pull back in shock. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"That unlocked the last memory,"[/i][/color] she said. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"It is complete now."[/i][/color]

"Huh? What do you mean?" Cinead held Mira in a daze. He almost forgot about the reason they were there in the first place. "What does it contain?"

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"...Oh..."[/i][/color] Mira looked as much startled as crestfallen. She turned her feathered face to Niciel. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"It all goes to purity. He meant it literally. The memories are of you, Niciel."[/i][/color]

Niciel lifted a hand to her chin in shock. She grew confused. "[color=fff79a]Me?[/color]" Niciel said. "[color=fff79a]What do they have to do with me? I thought these were [i]your[/i] memories, which can’t be true considering this is our first time meeting.[/color]"

Mira shot Cinead a glance and turned back to Niciel. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"They were unclear before they were all unlocked. These memories...I was not the one who recorded them. They were implanted."[/i][/color] She gave a perturbed look. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"They are not mine. They show powers of a god but they still feel like a part of me. Or...No, I am part of a god. They are Toun's memories."[/i][/color]

"[color=fff79a]I...I see,[/color]" Niciel said. She tried to process it all. "[color=fff79a]So then...what exactly is in this memory?[/color]" As soon as she asked this, Niciel felt a bit guilty as she realized that perhaps this might have been an invasion of Toun’s privacy. However, her curiosity won over her guilt and the feeling soon subsided.

Cinead felt Mira unconsciously hold him tighter. She stared at the chest of Cinead's tunic and closed her eyes. Niciel felt the residue of her mists detect a certain shift in Mira's porcelain heart once more; the ichor tried to ooze forth, only to be burnt away by the blue fire still flaming with her passions.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"He never did accept his love,"[/i][/color] Mira began. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"It was a Jvanic phenomenon, or at least allowed by it. Part of his little corruption. That piece from before the beginning. I cannot say how long it lasted. He did not count. He simply let the pain build. He resented and hated it away. It was the only way he could ignore it."[/i][/color] She pursed her lips to keep back the sadness. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"His mission is important to him. So very important. He wants to make a place where the family may be safe. Where they may live in peace. He saw his love as a risk and a weakness. For too long he simply ignored it. And, one day, then he rejected it. All the pain flowed over. Rather than face the pain, he cut it away. He cut away all the memories like a tumor. He moulded them into a construct, and hid it away in the body of a memento of his love. An angel of Niciel."[/i][/color]

Mira lifted her frowning face to Niciel. They were lined with tears. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Father barely spoke to me directly. He almost always spoke through Majus. Even when I did hear his voice, he was curt and terse. Now I know why. He knew I held what he rejected. I am a scapegoat for his personally perceived failings. I was never meant to unlock the memories because they were the source of his pain."[/i][/color] She raised her voice. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"His pain in longing for [/i]you,[i] Niciel! He hated you...and he loved you. More than any other sibling."[/i][/color]

Mira ended the recollection catching her breath. The destructive, consuming red ichor finally had an origin. Niciel underestimated her ability to suppress it; it could have engulfed the entire valley with destructive emotion had it flowed free. But such a thought was only fleeting. Niciel was still stunned from the memories themselves.

[i][color=fff79a]Toun had...such feelings for me?[/color][/i] Niciel thought to herself. She paced back and forth, blushing slightly while placing her fingers on her cheeks. She muttered in disbelief, both at herself and at this new revelation. "[color=fff79a]Wha...what do I do? What do I say to him? How long...oh my...[/color]" Never in her time as a goddess had she considered [i]that[/i] kind of love could be directed at her, nevermind coming from one of her siblings. Niciel had no idea how to go about it anymore. 

Cinead, Mira, and Inga looked on with no small level of concern. Mira in particular lowered her eyes in guilt.

"[color=fff79a]No no no, let’s- let’s just...calm down, calm down. Yes.[/color]" Niciel continued to mutter as she attempted to compose herself. Niciel was silent for a time as she closed her eyes, then came back composed, saying, "[color=fff79a]Ok, I’m ok.[/color]" She turned her attention back to the group. Eager to change the subject, Niciel suggested, "[color=fff79a]Well! You all must be tired after such a long journey. Please, stay for as long as you like.[/color]" 

"Great goddess," Cinead said cautiously with his head tilted forward and his eyes up. "You have been so helpful to us." He looked again at Mira in his arms and back to Niciel. "For saving Mira's life, for helping us solve this mystery, I could not thank you enough if I spent my entire life thanking you. But...are you okay? What does this mean for you?"

"[color=fff79a]We are done talking about this,[/color]" Niciel said sternly, determined to keep the topic shut down. They all stiffened at her tone. Returning to her usual demeanor, Niciel continued, "[color=fff79a]I will inform the Angels to take you to a place you can rest. Take care now.[/color]" Niciel bowed her head to them, then teleported away with a flash of light.

They blinked their dazzled eyes. A soft breeze made the grass bend and wave. Inga, Cinead, and Mira all came back to their senses. Mira and Cinead made eye contact again and simply stared. Inga kept her eyes on the misty sky above.

"So…" Cinead said, almost as a question.

Mira hummed, almost as a question.

"How do you feel?"

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Better,"[/i][/color] Mira said. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"No...I feel better than I can ever remember. I do not feel sick anymore."[/i][/color]

Cinead smiled. He turned his head to his sister. "I am sorry for making you watch, Inga."

Inga opened her mouth wide and mockingly retched. Cinead and Mira both laughed. The laugh drew Cinead's eyes to Mira again. This was not how he expected the day to pass but he would not have it any other way.

[hr]
A short while later, they all reclined on the grass, enjoying the weather and waiting for their guides.

Inga spotted two sets of wings in the sky. A pair of Angels, one pink and one blue-haired. They flew over to the three of them and descended to the ground. The two Angels bowed at the group and introduced themselves.

"Welcome to the Valley of Peace. I am Juli, and this is Sylv," the blue-haired Angel gestured to himself, then to his partner.

"Allow us to guide you to the guest house," the pink-haired Angel continued. 

Now sitting up, Cinead and Mira traded a glance. Mira responded in their language. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Thank you. Lead the way, please."[/i][/color]

The walk to the guest house was short enough. The strange trees and lovely soft grasses made for a peaceful walk. Inga, Cinead, and Mira each spotted other angels floating about with various tasks. Cinead even thought he saw a hain scuttling along between the trees, though Inga did not believe him.

The guest house itself was not as fantastical as the angels or the goddess Niciel, though its design was clearly not meant to be. It stood with bright stone walls and a sturdy pitched wooden roof, laid out such that it did not disturb the serenity of the valley around it. Waxy-leafed vines crept up its sides and flickered in the breeze like a sparkling green waterfall.

Mira and Cinead walked in, hand-in-hand, and both drew their eyes upwards. It was more spacious than it appeared from the outside, not only because of the tall ceilings, but the well-placed large windows that lit the central area up with as much sun as could be provided by the afternoon. Some seating and painted patterns on the wall gave the room some life, though it remained a sparse corridor. On one long wall to their right were eight wide wooden doors. Four were accessible from the floor, another four were connected to a mezzanine a story above. A flight of stairs at the end of the corridor granted access from the ground floor.

Beyond the doors were the guest rooms. Each had a pair of beds, simple seats, a desk, all essential pottery, and another large window facing the East.

The blue haired angel, Juli explained where to find the amenities the Angels provided and asked how many rooms they would require. When they inspected the beds, lavish and soft though they were, Inga made it clear that she would need two pushed together for herself and opted for her own room. First, she mentioned, she wanted to explore the valley for herself. She left under supervision and took off flying swiftly after stepping outside.

Cinead and Mira stepped into another room and Cinead closed the door behind them.

Mira stopped walking, her wispy cape settled and she eyed Cinead over her shoulder. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"You fulfilled your promise,"[/i][/color] she said softly. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Where are you planning to go next?"[/i][/color]

"I hadn't really thought about it," Cinead said. He looked out of the large window on the opposite wall and let out a breath through his nose. "The only place I can still think to go is Dundee. But...I don't know how they'll treat you there."

Mira turned around and clasped her hands together. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"It is as good a place to go as any. I do not think Toun will be giving me any new missions any time soon."[/i][/color]

"Will we be seeing Majus again?"

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Not unless we gain his attention. I know how to hide from it. And I know how to hide from father."[/i][/color]

Cinead stretched his arms. "What about Niciel? What do you think will happen?"

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"I do not know,"[/i][/color] Mira said, lowering her eyes. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"I expect her and Toun may cross paths again. It is none of our concern what the gods do between themselves."[/i][/color]

"Very well." Cinead stepped forward and took Mira's red-speckled hands. "There's just one more thing that has been bugging me," he said, smiling softly and lowering his brow. "If Toun rejected his love in the end, and you hold his memories of it, and you used the memories to feel love that you were not capable of before, how...how did you accept it?"

Mira smiled, relaxed. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"The reason Toun resolved to cut the memories away was because he could neither fully accept nor reject his feelings. The pain remained while he had both. I...found the small part that accepted it. I took it to its fullest potential. It feels much better when it is accepted."[/i][/color]

"You're telling me," Cinead ran a hand over the long white feathers on Mira's head.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"It also means..."[/i][/color] Mira blurred and warped in Cinead's eyes. He blinked hard and opened his eyes to see the beautiful warrior dwarf that Mira looked like when they first met. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"...I am no longer drained of my powers. I can take any form again. I can fight again."[/i][/color]

Cinead shook his head. "I prefer Mira. Come now."

Mira almost laughed. She laid her forehead on Cinead's shoulder, embarrassed, and returned to her strange, alien, feathered form.

Cinead gently lifted Mira's chin to look at her in the eyes again. "That's better."

Her smile widened. She kissed him.

[hr]
The land was dark, painted an almost dead, dull color. A moon hung in one side of the sky, and the sun another. The sun was unnaturally dim, and the moon wavered in the sky like it was unwell. Neither moved from their position in the slightest. The air was thick, almost hard to breath.

Cinead forced his lungs full. Strained as it was, his shortness of breath cast fear over his mind. He realised he did not know where he was. He searched for something -- anything -- that he recognised.

"Mira!?" No echo. "Inga!?!"

There was nothing -- nothing but a flat plain. He could see for what must have been hundreds of miles over the horizon, but even then he saw nothing. So much nothing that he could hear the silence flurry in his ears.

Then he heard something step into existence. His neck prickled. He spun to see it.

It was a formless mass at first. Almost Jvanic in its complexity. Undulating. It slowly took shape. Cinead's temples throbbed in horror. The being had multiple sets of wings, pink in coloration. Some sort of halo, a cruel crown, sat atop its head, twisted into nothing but a facsimile of the holy symbol it could have been.

Cinead urged his limbs to move. He urged his throat to scream. They did not obey.

It spoke. The mind bubbled with its words, and they reverberated through Cinead’s core, yet he did not understand what it was saying.

Cinead pulled against the weights on his arms. They did not obey. He could not fight. He could not run. He exhaled and resigned himself.

"What are you?!" Cinead barely said.

The figure silenced. Its wings opened up at the edges, revealing themselves to be nothing more than space for eyes. Indeed, each one was tipped with a single, massive eye. An unnatural appearance. Its voice boomed once more.

[b]"I was your creator, and now I will be your salvation."[/b]

It made less sense than the formless words preceding it. Cinead's thoughts only snapped to an answer through intuition. His mouth opened and his ears lifted.

"...Empress?"

[b]"She was weak, foolish. I am trapped, spawn of Lazarus, and it is [i]all. Her. Fault.[/i]"[/b]

Cinead narrowed his eyes against the force of the last three words.

"You are not Lazarus, but you are my creator?" Logic did not serve Cinead in this place. "I don't understand."

"And for that lack of understanding, you shall die," the massive being boomed out. It moved frighteningly fast. Before Cinead could even gasp, a fist was brought down. He was crushed.

Cinead felt something on his shoulder. He threw up his arms and thrashed, finally shouting in terror.

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"Cinead! Cinead, calm yourself..."[/i][/color]

The familiar voice brought his mind back to his body. He caught his breath. His heart pounded like the boots of a running army.

"Mira?"

[color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"I am here Cinead. You are safe. It was just a dream."[/i][/color]

She lay propped up beside him with a hand on his shoulder. He slowed his breathing to calm. He felt sticky as he moved, drenched in cold sweat.

"I have never had a dream like that before," he said, his voice shuddering. "It wasn't right. It was more than any nightmare should be."

Mira laid her head on his chest and slid an arm around him. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"What did you see? What happened?"[/i][/color]

"I saw…" He shook his head. "I don't know what I saw. I feel like I have seen it before, though. Like a description. I don't remember where I learned it." He looked to Mira in the dark. "The King of Kings."

[hider=More Sap Than All The Maple In North America. Brush your damn teeth, kids.]
With Minus hibernating in his arms, Cinead continues the journey to the Valley of Peace astride Inga's back.

They spot the Nice Mountains easily but are intercepted by an patrol of angels on the way in.

Thankfully, wisp magic bridges the language barrier and Cinead is able to explain the situation.

One of the angels offers to try and heal Minus, so they touch down in the Valley of Peace to diagnose her. However, when they land, Niciel is already waiting for them.

Niciel dismisses the angels and has a crack at helping. The best she can do is use pink healing mist to suppress the pain leaking from Minus' insides. Turns out its coming from her shard of Toun himself that marks her as an avatar -- a porcelain heart. Niciel also notices that Minus' internal anatomy is shockingly similar to an angel with its wings taken off, not to mention that Minus runs on scores of microscopic Tounic symbols working together to create a simulacrum of a lifelike being. Most interesting is that all the symbols are written in angel blood.

Niciel gets flashbacks to the exsanguinated corpses of the angels sent to annoy Toun, courtesy of Vestec. The whole torpid drama is not a pleasant memory, but it had to be the only way that Toun could get his hands on enough angel blood to make Minus, so her interest is piqued.

As it happens, Minus wakes up from her slumber. With her feeling suppressed by the mists, she does not have to worry about the pain killing her for now.

Minus notices that Niciel recognises what she is, but Niciel is chill about it. She knows that it's not Minus' fault.

Minus explains why they came; to unlock the final memory in this weird series of memories implanted in Minus in an attempt to resolve the manifest crazy amount of pain they are causing. Minus does not want to drown to a very real death in pain-ichor.

Niciel is willing to help but is unsure how to go about it. She's not great with memories and minds and such.

Minus explains the various clues leading them to Niciel. Primarily the 'it all goes to purity' detail. She also explains that the memories were each unlocked with various experiences. She goes into detail, though the pattern arises that Minus' interactions with Cinead correlate with the unlocking experiences.

Niciel notices this pattern. In pondering Toun's apparent puzzle here with these implanted memories, she decides to broach Cinead and Minus' relationship. She allows a little of the pain to go through so that emotion can influence Minus' opinion.

Cinead certainly still feels the affection, Minus is a slightly different story. She explains that she was never constructed with the neural mechanisms to experience love.

Niciel objects, saying she's clearly showing the potential with the memories thus far.

Minus complains that the pain could overtake and kill her if she attempts to use the implanted memories to feel love.

In response, Niciel asks Cinead to help her feel love, assuring that she will not allow Minus to die from the pain while she can help it.

Cinead posits that he's been feeling heartache as well, anticipating separation from Minus. In a [s]deadly saccharine[/s] heartfelt admission, he wishes they could just trust each other to be there, together and not have to worry about separating. Oh yeah, and he loves her.

The pain in Minus' heart is about to breach Niciel's suppressions when it suddenly turns into passionate blue fire. Minus admits that she wants to stay with Cinead and will do it this way if they have to, despite the pain.

They hug really tight because Mutton doesn't want it to be so schmaltzy that they have a passionate face-sucking session in front of the already heavily third-wheeling Inga and a literal goddess.

In accepting their love for each other, Minus unlocks the final memory. This allows all the memories to be read clearly, consistently, and in context.

They aren't artificial memories nor are they Minus' memories. They're Toun's memories.

Minus sadly recounts it all to Niciel. Toun had been in love with Niciel for a countlessly long time. However, this conflicted with his single-minded pursuit of making a perfect paradise for the divine family. He throwed resentment and hate at himself to cope and the pain built up. Finally, he resolved to let his love go by literally cutting the memories out of his soul and using the shard to make an avatar. That avatar was Minus. Though it's not explicitly mentioned, it logically follows that Toun currently harbours no memories of love for Niciel as of the present time.

Niciel is understandably disturbed by this revelation. She momentarily loses composure in front of the gang, but recovers enough to invite them to stay as long as they like in the Valley of Peace.

Cinead broaches the issue. Niciel shuts his questions down and leaves.

A pair of angels take the gang to an angelic guest house.

Inga goes off exploring, leaving Cinead and Mira alone in a guest room together. They resolve a few hanging questions.

Cinead doesn't know where they'll all be heading next. Probably Dundee. He doesn't sound decided.

Minus, now firmly transitioned to the name Mira, is starting to regain her powers. They probably won't have to worry about Toun or Majus because she knows how to hide her presence from them.

Minus momentarily transforms back into the warrior dwarf Mira, but Cinead prefers that she stay in her true feathered form. At least on camera.

They pash. Arc over. Robots with established feelings now. G'night.

[i]BUT LATER THAT NIGHT[/i]
Cinead has a vision. What were you thinking, you filth?

It's of a featureless, empty landscape. He's alone. It's spooky.

Then something appears behind Cinead. It's a big monster thing with wing-eyes!

Cinead freaks out. The monster goes ooga-booga-booga.

Being in dream paralysis, Cinead can neither wake up nor move. He resigns himself to being killed by this thing and shoots it a question.

"Dafuq are u!?"

It says it's Cinead's creator and salvation!

"Neat. You're the Big-E then, yea?"

It says "Big-E is a THOT!"

"Wot? You're not her, but you're my creator?"

It says "Cinead, you a retard." It then crushes Cinead with a big ol' fist.

Cinead wakes up from the nightmare almost whacking a concerned Mira in the face with his flailing arms.

He only discerns one meaningful thing from it. Something he can't explain:

"The King of Kings."

Anyway, now Mutton can finally get back to more developed characters. The previous obligations to free up other players' bottlenecks are now relaxed.

Thank you Scarifar and WrongEndoftheRainbow for collaborating with me! You guys are champions.

[hider=Monohawk's Muttonlogue Featurette]
This is just a quick reflection section. Feel free to skip it. I just need to sort a few thoughts out regarding this arc. I made several mistakes and would like to learn from them.

I feel as though I was trying to do too many things at once and had my priorities backwards. Originally, this whole thing was solely purposed for Minus to explore the strange behaviours it expressed in its various appearances.

Minus was meant to be an emotionless flesh-and-clay golem who, paradoxically, could fully emulate emotional people as disguises. Its behaviour was only meant to glitch out due to Toun's deliberate shuffling off of various corrupting thoughts. The full motivation for this beyond what has been revealed in this last post is still technically spoiler territory. Regardless, I wanted those dances and weird feelings of Minus' to be drawn out to the point of conflicting with Toun and Majus. There was also lots of ambiguity to explore with regards to personal identity (can Minus' tell the difference between its disguises' feelings and its own feelings? How will either change or be influenced by the other? etc.).

This main idea could have been executed much better. I blame that mainly on lack of forethought in planning and the wobbly-armed changes I made to the story partway through. That is to say nothing with it competing with Cinead and Inga trying to work out where the hell they are, how the hell they got to where they are, what their powers are as essentially living artefacts, and who the hell Minus actually is.

It didn't help that I really should have developed Inga, Cinead, and Minus with another few posts before getting them together. I even could have made up for lost ground by having the characters have flashbacks at the beginning of some of the posts in this arc. Perhaps I will still do that later to flesh them out. The characters are not being retired, after all. Other conflicts are coming up soon.

Hell, I could use Minus and Cinead's lack of development to flesh out into a conflict between them and threaten their relationship. That could redeem it a little. It would also make their bond (and Mira's new panoply of feelings) more realistic.

Anyway, moving more specifically to Cinead. He was originally meant to be a shallow foil for Minus' development. That was a mistake. He needed to be developed properly to bounce of Mira realistically. As a result, their relationship, while feeling sincere enough in the prose (I have to be nice to myself for some things), is lacking substance. It's a kind of fiat love, not backed by much. Cinead's due for much more development in the coming posts, not least of which because his nature as a primarch may impact him a tad harder soon.

Inga was a secondary character but still a rogue element. I feel she was developed better in personality, but she was held back by her friggin' [i]twin brother[/i] being two-dimensional, as I outlined above. I had to treat her carefully, and I think she came out okay. She may get her own little arcs in the future. Of all the characters in this arc, I'm happiest with her, ironically. Her thought processes make the most sense to me in the way her anxieties have influenced her. God damn is she annoying to write dialogue for, though.

So, in the end, perhaps a couple of extra posts to flesh things out could have been added, the characters needed a better foundation to arc away from, and Cinead and Mira's relationship will have to pay for itself with a few bumps in the road. This isn't so bad in hindsight. It's all learning. Even if I should have done better, there were some outside influences that caused be to rush some aspects of this arc. Me moving countries soon is the biggest elephant in the room. I should recognise such things next time and set more realistic expectations for myself.

But were there good things? I think so. The prose seemed okay, the pacing was better than my other attempts at romance arcs, I filled a bunch of plot holes as they arose, and the arc has ended right about where I wanted it to. Hell, Niciel now knows about Toun's previous crush on her, that's a win! If nothing else, I can use this foundation to make the next changes to these characters more noticable in their coming arcs.

Most importantly, this was still fun. I can keep having fun off the back of this.

Anyway, if any of you guys read this rant for whatever reason, please let me know if you have an opinion. I do want to improve and this was a bumpy ride. Maybe you guys can learn from my mistakes. At the very least, I hope this arc was enjoyable, even if I'm not sure I gave Minus the [i]full[/i] justice it deserves.

Pfeh, I'll explore it later, I guess. No need to act too seriously about a play-by-post where we all pretend to be insecure gods in a dysfunctional, destructive celestial family that routinely genocides mortals (mostly hain) in the wake of our domestic incidents. I need to get back into the rotation of my other stories and get them up to date with the latest turn timeline. Read you later, dudes!
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