Welcome to Gaia! ::

Finally free of the darkness, Venes stumbled a little, still soaked from the struggle for his life, but his eyes darted around fiercely for the goddess.

instead, all he saw was a statue of her... and empty pedestals. He glared at the filled one. Did she know what sort of situation she'd put him in...? she must have... right? he wasn't feeling so sure about her now. But the other stands gained his attention.

Looking at them all, and their definitions, the dark black one seemed to easily call to him. Walking before it, he didn't even bend to set the soaking bag filled with a heart, but dropped it right from where he stood.

Slowly, weighed down by the memories she did not know what to do with, Annabell made her way back to the shrine. It was both surprising and natural that the Goddess who gave her her task was not there, but the girl only gave a soft sigh. Both hands held the bag close, gently cradled the heart that she had worked so hard for. There was something important about keeping both hands on the bag, but it was not a thought to be considered because it would mean Annabell acknowledged she was crying and that would be considered weakness. She had accomplished the task, that was most important. That was something to take pride in.

The glint of the middle plaque caught the girl's eyes and she shifted herself forward to view it more closely. Hubris. Pride. Vanity.
The memories of herself had not been happy, but the girl in them had been content. She had been exempt of pride, having never felt it next to the other who had joined her in those reveries. But that was then. Now, things were different. Annabell's chin rose up to look at the empty space above the plaque where a statue should stand.
All she had to do was step up onto it.

With a deep breath in, she leaned forward and set the bag onto the Gold Pedestal. No words were spoken as she straightened her back, the memories leaking from her. They would not be missed. They would not be reminders of moving forward, but instead blank places where the girl would fill with her own accomplishments. So far she had done well, but there was always room for improvement.

The Goddesses were silent, the Shrine still. Repoem gazed around, his attention attracted by the empty pillars. He considered them all, pausing to read and re-read the plaques.

In the end, Repoem placed the heart upon the pedestal of Anguish.

The Heart vanished, and Repoem felt lighter. The pain ceased. Repoem stood before the empty pedestal uncertainly before he turned and left.

Upon arriving, Zauus looked around to show her completed task to her Goddess. But there was no one here. Her hand tightened the hold of the bag. Four pedestals sat, empty. One had a statue in it's position. She approached the plaque and read it in her head. She had to read it a few times before fully understanding what she must do.

She walked around the room, examining all of the pedestals before making an offering. They were all identical save for what was written on the plaque. She stopped in front of one and set her bag down on the dark black pedestal. She gave a respectful bow before her bag disappeared along with the memories of her past.

He had done a bad thing. He had destroyed someone important, taken her heart. Fought her for it. He was not supposed to harm her. It hurt his head more than his heart as he made his way back into the room.

Tired, Cyan Gin did not want to look too closely at the pedestals, did not want to take the time to read. He left his heart at the one that appealed the most, the one with the dark green before moving on his way, wondering what he had been worried about.

She watched the pedestals for a few moments, her legs trembling and her eyes as wide as saucers when she realized that the Goddess had disappeared in her journey. She was to offer this up to one of the empty shrines before her, she assumed, taking a small walk up and down each pedestal lane, wondering which was the best option for her.

No matter how long she considered, she constantly returned to the Golden Pedestal, it's plaque resounding in her heart, making her decision the easiest. She sacrificed the heart to the plaque, feeling a great distress at seeing the heart go.

But the emotion only lasted a moment, and once the journey had completed and the heart long gone, a sudden calmness washed over her, and she had felt that something was gone. What it was, she was unsure - a feeling of déjà-vu at best.

Hunh.

Walking shakily she managed to get back to the shrine, leaning on the wall once and grabbing the bag from her side, clutching it tightly. Is this worth it? A voice echoed in her head, replaying the images again and she held an ear and tugged angrily to get rid of it. This isn't how she wanted the rest of her task to be like. It was like a knife in her head twisting with each freshly added memory. The pedestals where there again, in-tact and she grumbled.

Mel'ae was a mess and was covered with darkened brown spots and shivered from the coldness endured in the water. She coughed again and wavered at the words, looking at the empty pedestals while blinking wildly. Is this what was worth it all? With her knees shaking she thrust herself forward through the different colors and collided with the last one.

All of the words fell over her with little meaning and she clutched onto the last one, staring with wide eyes at it. "...Consumption..." It was of little meaning now, she wanted them gone and yes... to consume, that was a good thought and had some sort of nostalgic feeling to the word.

"Take them." She said, reaching up from the floor where she'd fallen and placing the bag on the Green Pedestal of Affliction. She sat there for a long while as it faded, then suddenly she was up, her ears bouncing and she looked around curiously. "How did I get here?" She said, her words echoing off the halls. She felt a lot better but it seemed like a gap in her mind had opened. With a shrug she dusted her dress off and stretched out.

Somewhere inside she felt accomplished and trotted off.

She had done a terrible, terrible thing.

Vae's expression was dazed as she made her way towards the pedestals, her gaze briefly sweeping over the plaques. Was she supposed to give up the heart on one of these things? After all that trouble, they were just supposed to present these as an offering, huh?

She couldn't shake the self-loathing and guilt that had settled over her, suddenly desperate to get rid of the heart, as if that would somehow make everything all better. Pinching the top of the bag between her thumb and forefinger, she skimming each plaque once more, doing a circling around the pedestals. Finally, she paused in front of one of them in particular.

Affliction. That seemed fitting, didn't it? What she had just done had doubtlessly caused pain, not only for her, but for the one whose heart she had taken. With a choked laugh, that sounded more like the beginning of a sob, she tossed the heart onto the green pedestal, watching as it faded away.

When she turned to leave, the memories and her pain were already disappearing.