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[color=f6989d]"Sing me a song, you're a singer. Do me a wrong, you're a bringer of evil..."[/color] Who could say what the angel's name was, and his song could scarcely be heard above the rattle of the chains. It carried all of the way up the great vaulted marble halls. [color=f6989d]"While the thrashing [i]does[/i] add something of an aesthetic, mister Kavanaugh, I'll have you know that it shall work against you come judgement time."[/color] They had taken Tommy's voice and bound him in chains. The only resistance he could offer was to thrash, and it came naturally to him as it might a fish hauled up into the unfamiliar environment of a boat from its watery home. After a moment, the cherub began dragging him along again. At least the accursed singing had stopped. He had opted for humming instead. 

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[color=6ecff6]"Good morning, your honour.[/color] The tall, beautiful angel of Ipté bowed deeply. Was it morning here? Who could say where the light came from... [color=6ecff6]"This court will plainly show that the accused who now stands before you is guilty of the following fifty-seven crimes:"[/color] She cleared her throat and each one of Tommy's crimes against love, kinship, and beauty flashed before the court in every agonizing detail. [color=6ecff6]"And yet, in his latter days, he learned to love. He held some care for his friends."[/color] A much shorter show played itself out before the five hooded figures who perched atop the dais in the distance. Still, he was muted. Still, he could not speak. There was an extended pause where only his actions could speak for him, and they were sorely wanting. 

The figure on the left stood, and she was Edyta. She gazed upon him with hard eyes and, still, he could not speak. [color=f26522]"We find the accused guilty on thirty-nine counts minus eight. We sentence him to a hell without love or beauty. May Shune have mercy on his soul."[/color] There was no an ounce of mercy to it.

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[color=f6989d]"You were closer than we thought you'd be,"[/color] the cherub allowed, dragging Tommy to the next of the Hourglass Courts. [color=f6989d]"Thirty one out of fifty-seven counts. Only three away from heaven."[/color] He grunted, the chains rattling again. Had the thrashing stopped? That was entirely up to the condemned. [color=f6989d]"Shune next. You're in with a shot, you know."[/color]

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[color=fff79a]"Good morning, your honour."[/color] The lanky angel of Shune cleared his throat. [color=fff79a]"This court will plainly show that the accused who now stands before you is guilty of the following thirty-four crimes."[/color] Tommy's lies, moments of idiocy, and refusals to learn displayed themselves in no less depth and detail than his crimes against Ipté earlier. [color=fff79a]"However,"[/color] the angel allowed, [color=fff79a]"He has shown some curiosity. He has asked questions and explored for information. He has learned how to learn."[/color] Some of his better moments played themselves out within the grand hall and the cowled figure at the right end of the five revealed himself to be Johann. He frowned and pondered before speaking. [color=goldenrod]"We find the accused guilty on twenty-six counts minus ten. We grant him entrance to the heaven of learning."[/color]

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[color=f6989d]"Told you you were in with a chance, boy. Didn't I?"[/color] Perhaps Tommy was no longer being dragged. [color=f6989d]"You need three out of the five, you know. Everything here works on simple majority."[/color] He jangled the chains. [color=f6989d]"Well, come on. We haven't got all day."[/color]

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The second figure on the left stepped forward. It was still fresh in Tommy's head - all of it: the other kids shanked in a back alley, the fingers and jaws broken, the killing. Lady Avis' face had not left his mind's eye and there she was, the hooded figure. She was as impassive as any of the others and, yet, not so. [color=a2d39c]"We declare the accused guilty of forty crimes against life, minus nothing."[/color] She regarded him unflinchingly. [color=a2d39c]"We sentence him to burn for all eternity in hellfyre and death."[/color] Imperious, she concluded. [color=a2d39c]"May Eshiran have mercy on his soul."[/color]

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[color=f6989d]"I knew you were rough,"[/color] the cherub remarked, [color=f6989d]"but I didn't think you were such a rotten one."[/color] He shook his head and, still, Tommy could not speak. Did he squirm a bit now? Did he thrash? [color=f6989d]"One more, and it's hell for you,"[/color] the angel said evenly. [color=f6989d]"Both and there's no escaping."[/color] Eshiran was not long in coming.

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It all came down to Eshiran. [color=a187be]"Good afternoon, your honour."[/color] The tall, muscled pentangel bowed rigidly. [color=a187be]"This day, we shall weigh the actions of the accused and determine if he is worthy or if he is a miserable coward and senseless killer."[/color] He twisted to regard the youth evaluatively before returning his gaze to the five hooded figures. [color=a187be]"He stands accused of twelve counts of cowardice and senseless slaughter."[/color] They played themselves out as if they were true life, but there was nothing Tommy could say in his defense. [color=a187be]"But he has been brave, as well, repeatedly. Often, he has shed blood for reasons that made sense in his situation."[/color] Tommy had to hope that those were enough. From the shadowed cowl emerged Desmond and he, too, was dispassionate. [color=gold]"We find him worthy of a warrior's heaven."[/color] He nodded, and there was - finally - a hint of a smile. 

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[color=f6989d]"All down to Dami, isn't it, kid?"[/color] The cherub interrupted his humming and, after a few moments, began singing again. [color=f6989d]"The devil is never a maker. The less that you give, you're a taker..."[/color] Tommy could hear every echo of his voice, every footstep, and every rattle of the chains against the towering marble pillars, those impassive floors and pillars, that ceiling so far above his reach. He had seen not a single other soul his entire time here.

[hr][hr][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lZwy_yGVeM&list=PLPJny5xpzQqS0uk4bb_Q5wPjnsQRaFKgW&index=9]♫[/url][/center][hr][hr]
There was no angel of Dami to stand beside Tommy and present his greatest failures and accomplishments. Even the cherub had backed off after prostrating himself, disappearing... the youth wasn't quite sure where. Instead, the central of the five shadowy figures rose. He rose and... continued to do so, spilling over the edge like a thin, oily waterfall of blackness, rising up towards the ceiling until he towered over everything else in the room. [color=000000]"You have been measured,"[/color] declared a great, booming voice. [color=000000]"Your choices. Your justice. You judgement."[/color] He seemed to be leaning forward, over and above Tommy, and still, strangely, his face could not be seen. There was no reenactment this time. [color=000000]"You have been weighed in all measures of your being,"[/color] he thundered, [color=000000]"and found wanting."[/color]

The ceiling began to black and swirl. A fiery glow began to emanate from it. [color=000000]"I consign thee to hell, Thomas Kavanaugh, where thou shalt burn until such time as thou art cleansed of the stench of sin from the disappointing life thou hath led."[/color] The hood fell back to reveal Tommy's own face, regarding him with unnerving disdain. His voice was returned to him in that moment, but it made no difference. Dami's judgement was final and absolute. The swirling vortex of the ceiling pulled him in. That was the last that he saw. That was the last thing that happened to him.

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They had gotten it wrong! That had to be it! Instead of a burning hell or empty void of madness, Tommy had awoken on a field of soft green grass and dandelions. There was a faint smell of Stresia in the air, and birds chittering among the trees. He might've pinched himself to make sure that it wasn't some accursed hallucination, but he'd felt pain: real pain - just a little flash of it. For how long he was unsure, he simply wandered about, across endless green fields, through copses of trees, and across babbling brooks and streams. The sun warmed his skin. The wind ruffled his hair. If there was one thing missing, it was other people. He had seen not a single soul and, for a moment, there was some apprehension. He had been sentenced to hell, hadn't he? Was this it? The perfection was empty without companionship? Was this Ipté's Hell? 

The sun began to dip, growing fat and golden, and it struck Tommy that he was rather thirsty. He would have to eat as well. Hunting was something that he could do. If he hadn't been trained in it like some of those noble kids, it couldn't have been that hard, could it? In the distance, as the sun's golden rays filtered through the tall grass, he caught sight of a creek winding its way through a small valley. Managing a light jog, he made it there in what he assumed was a couple of minutes. Surely it wasn't poisoned or full of parasites. Tommy was no master of chemical magic, but he couldn't [i]sense[/i] anything wrong with the water and he was dead anyhow. He crouched on a rock, reached down, and cupped his hands, filling them with water. He lifted it to his lips and drank. Without thinking, he drank again, and some more. 

His lips were still dry. His tongue remained sticky and his throat rough. A growing alarm rising inside of him, he took a slow, cautious sip. The water... felt like water, but it was only superficial. Beyond a feeling and a taste, it seemed to do... nothing. It gave him nothing. It [i]was[/i] nothing. He sat back on the grass, only then beginning to realize the true nature of this hell.

[hr][hr][hr][center][h1][sup][sub]~  🙡[/sub][/sup] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDB01xGt6OA][color=ffffe0]𝄋[/color][/url] [sup][sub]🙣 ∽[/sub][/sup][/h1][hr][hr][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/zgcAuK5.png[/img][hr][hr][hr][/center]
Edyta Laska did not remember closing her eyes. She did not remember anything after biting the apple. She looked around and... well, she certainly wasn't in Ersand'Enise anymore. An idyllic wilderness stretched out before her eyes: hills and mountains, seas of trees and great green valleys. Throughout wound sparkling rivers, while opulent lodges perched on the hillsides. In the distance lay a great coliseum. She craned her neck to get a better look at it, and that was when she realized that she was a direstork. 

She let out an alarmed squawk and flapped her wings. This had to be some sort of dream or... No, it wasn't! This was the back door into the heaven of Lord Eshiran. She could still think as if she were a woman and not a beast. This was the eternal hunt! She and... she twisted in her unfamiliar body to regard the honey badger relaxing in some nearby brambles - [color=6ecff6][i]Desmond!?[/i][/color] If she had been reformed as an animal in order to slip into this heaven, then... that had to be him, right? Oddly, she did not feel as awkward in this form as she should have. She hopped back a few steps and found it easy to cover ground. Direstorks were enormous birds, after all. Experimentally, she flapped her wings a couple of times and Honey Badger Desmond twisted to regard her. He snuffled around a bit, scratching at something with his paws, and rose.

Then, just as she was wondering how in Eshiran's green heaven they might communicate, there came a familiar sound echoing across the grassy hills: a gunshot, and then another. This was the hunt, and [i]they[/i] were the beasts! Desmond's stubby little ears had perked up and he let out a long hissing growl. [color=6ecff6][i]If only you'd been reformed here as a gun. Would've been oddly appropriate,[/i][/color] Direstork Edyta thought to herself, [color=6ecff6][i]and useful.[/i][/color] she swallowed. What to do? Where to even [i]begin!?[/i]

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