Glorious Home

[Anastasia]

"You're strong of will and character," Xandra agrees, "WE all are as we gaze above."

Kaja clicks his tongue against his teeth, "With all due respect, what makes the two of you human? You talk of lofty things, but what motivates you? What makes you more than bland puppets following Celestia's will? If I wanted that, I'd go marry an erinyes and replace Celestia with Hell."

Cresiel passes two cards to Jetina as he says, "I don't need to be vivacious. I don't need to be loud. I don't need to be brash. I am." After a few beats, "And I find the same behavior from my mother tiring."

"A hah! A sign of life! You may not be a golem yet," Kaja declares, "So you're not a mother's boy?"

"You could say that," Cresiel replies after a few moments, "I take after my father, who serves Celestia. My mother serves Brightwater."

[Nephrite]

"Being in a place like Aurora tends to give you a wide variety of dispositions to work with." Moore says. "I think it's what helped him be a little less stodgy." Moore laughs a bit at that as he pretends to duck under a swipe that never comes.

"Honestly, it's interesting to me that you don't share the same kinds of sentiments, Kaja. I mean... you know, the dragon stuff and everything. What's made you follow the path you're on now?" He asks.

[Anastasia]

"Well..." Kaja begins, as Xandra again lays down all four aces. This time Jetina groans along with Kaja, as the cards are shuffled by Cresiel this time.

Xandra merely smiles, "Such is the will of above - do not think any one thing is beyond it."

"LIke you answering that question, but hold on," Kaja shoots back, sighing mournfully. "Also, I'm glad this isn't for money. Anyway, well...I had a tough time as a teenager, but I finally found one thing out that showed me my path."

"Which is?" Jetina asks, taking a new hand of cards.

"I'm really fucking good at killing." Kaja says, bluntly.

[Nephrite]

"Hah!" Moore puts a hand over his mouth apologetically. "I suppose that would do it. As much as I'd like to peacefully resolve every difference of opinion in Creation, that simply isn't going to happen. Sometimes force is necessary, either as a deterrent or just because some people are really stubborn." A sigh afterwards. "It's too bad, but no sense in lamenting over it. I'm not the type of person to follow a path of non-violence."

[Anastasia]

Cresiel smiles - not a kind smile, but the smiles.

Jetina can't keep a half laugh out either, shaking her head.

Xandra merely looks on.

"Such a gift may seem like a nightmare, a prelude to being a serial killer or a monster," Cresiel says, then bows his head deeply to Kaja, "You have turned it into a holy profession, fighting the good fight and fighting what must be slain to save others."

Kaja smiles, sharp teeth gleaming in the light. "You get it. You both do. I could be a monster, but I choose instead to be an avenger. Creation has plenty of things that need to die."

[Nephrite]

Moore nods along with Cresiel and Kaja.

"It's grim business, no matter what it is you're doing. I'm glad that you found your purpose, both with the act itself but as well as with us." Moore gestures at the others. "I know you'll learn a lot and will be able to grow more, both professionally and as a person."

[Anastasia]

"Yes, so...Xandra?" Kaja turns to her.

Xandra hums, "Why I act as I do?" she asks, "You have to understand, I see and feel things hidden to most. I feel the will of Celestia and Chronias. Imagine the greatest compulsion you have ever felt. Remove the compulsion by force unknown and replace it with knowing this is the right thing to do. Amplify it by a thousand fold. It is so easy and so natural to guide, to act in a way that is inhuman because it is so focused on matters beyond the flesh."

"Really? What's it like?" Jetina pipes up, passing a card over, which Xandra grabs double speed.

"Indescribable. Whatever it is, whatever there is that awaits us on Chronias, is something we simply cannot explain or describe. It is something utterly beyond us in every way. It is perfect." Xandra takes a breath, "I find it too easy to lose myself in it. I become...rigid, in a way. Unable to relate at times, or relying on speaking of what should be said. But I'm not able to fully handle that, none of us are."

[Nephrite]

Moore smiles a little, almost nostalgically.

"I'll see what I can do to help translate. I think you and I can hear the same things, though I never really questioned where it was from until I met you." Moore admits.

"It is hard to relate, especially when the message is... confusing or doesn't make sense." Moore agrees. "I'd like to one day understand what it is beyond 'something unknowable,' but there's time enough for that."

[Anastasia]

A moment, a flicker of memory.

_h_ _m______ ___e, _____ __o_ ______ _____, one __ ___ _____ H__y _f ______.

"There's time enough," Cresiel says, as he places down four aces.

"Okay," Kaja turns to Cresiel, giving him a look, "How'd you manage it against a seer?"

"I noticed Xandra has a tell," Cresiel says solemnly, "She looks at cards that are aces too long, longer than other cards."

[Nephrite]

One day, he'll be able to -- ... something...


Moore just starts laughing as he puts his cards down. "I'm beginning to think you just got a deck that can be manipulated, Kaja." He clears his throat to calm himself down. "You all would be a nightmare in Brightwater, I can already tell."

[Anastasia]

Cresiel gives you a loooong look at that, while Xandra smiles.

Jetina sits back, "I'm going to get us some drinks. Who wants what?"

"Red wine," Kaja says, while Cresiel adds, "Water," and Xandra says, "Honeyed tea."

[Nephrite]

Oh ho ho ho, did he figure it out?

"Some fruit juice would be fine, thank you." Moore says.

[Anastasia]

Once Jetina is gone off to get that, "So...this is something. A trumpet archon, a pixie, a solar, a human hero and a half dragon are playing cards," Kaja says, taking the deck and shuffling away, hands a dexterous blur. "Sounds like the start of a joke."

"All are welcome here," Xandra says, and on Kaja starting to say something, bulls ahead. "Especially or perhaps because of that, here we are."

"Here we are," Kaja agrees, "So the question for the entire hoard: You all think Moore can really lead us to glory?"

"Yes," Cresiel's answer is immediate. "I have seen him. He has his flaws," Another long look to you, "But we all have our flaws. Tomorrow we'll merely remind the rest of Creation of how much glory we can obtain."

[Nephrite]

"You'll understand what I can do when we get into a fight." Moore says. "I think you'll be able to see why I'm here in the position I'm in, too. I'm not just a rosey-cheeked pixie who just fell out of a tree."

He smiles and nods to Kaja and gestures at Cresiel and Xandra. "I think you'll be able to understand the sort of bonds we're forming too, and learn to draw the same strength from them that we have. But I know you're not someone who got by on words much in your career, so I'll just promise you plenty of action."

[Anastasia]

"That we will," Kaja says, as Jetina returns.

"Juice, honeyed tea, water and red wine," she says, passing them out. "Did I miss anything?"