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 Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:10 pm
It was always comforting, to arrive on his planet. This was only the second time Izanami had ever brought another person here, but she had been quite a bit more frequently herself, and she sighed contentedly when she felt he soft give of grass under her feet instead of the harshness of city concrete.
As promised, the planet was indeed bathed in twilight. And over their heads was a beautiful tree--the cherry blossom that Izanami had found on her first visit, now in full, vibrantly blue, glowing bloom. The breeze picked up and caught the flowers, and sent them whirling throguh the air, around Izanami and Belenos, like it was welcoming the new visitor, and Izanami smiled.
"Welcome to my planet," she said. "Ah, so it doesn't startle you--we're on a hill, overlooking a graveyard. But it isn't scary, really. This place is...very at peace."
And so was Izanami, whenever she came here. It just felt right, like this was where she truly belonged. And perhaps there was some truth to that--after all, her soul and this world were tied in some powerful, inextricable way. So perhaps she belonged more to this place, with its soft lavender grasses and glowing blooming trees, than she did to the world on which she was born.
A strange thing to think about, and a thought Izanami gently set aside.
"So? Enjoying space so far?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:48 pm
...Okay, wait, hold on, was Bélénos suddenly actually in a romance movie? No, for real, she needed to know, because she'd totally purify for a girl. She didn't really care about her own planet so much, but wow, Izanami had a real good thing going on here. The twilight that softly shaded the entire planet in its warm glow was more beautiful than she could have possibly imagined. Then— Then!!!—like some kind of cheesy, goofy romance movie, the blue cherry blossoms (!!!!) just happened to swirl around them in a timely gust of wind while they were still totally holding hands from shifting through the universe across space and time together? Ugh! The universe was soooo totally unfair, because she'd bet money that Izanami was already taken, what with how beautiful she was and how beautiful her planet was!! Wahhhh!!!! Big lesbian tears for Bélénos and her unlucky love life!!!!! Even the knowledge of the graveyard didn't really deter her—though perhaps it should have. It just... kinda made the whole thing more infuriatingly romantic. In that sad sort of way. Still beautiful, but more bittersweet, and definitely more hinting towards Bélénos's future heartbreak if she pursued what that little stutter in her chest told her to pursue. "It's beautiful out here," she breathed, eyes sweeping the landscape. "Like, whoa. What else is there to see? What's the graveyard about?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:58 pm
Well, at least Belenos seemed as excited to see Izanami as Encke had been. That was important, because...well, Izanami had to admit, if anyone was ever mean about her planet, it would probably emotionally devastate her. Or it would make her very angry, one or the other. Fortunately, she wouldn't have to find out today.
"I haven't gone far form this place," Izanami confessed, "because cleaning up that graveyard is a massive project, and so is trying to clean up the manor house," she gestured over her shoulder, towards an elegant, classical Japanese-style manor complex. "That's where the previous Senshi used to live. It was her duty to look after this place, tend to the living and the dead, and keep watch over the people buried here."
At least, that was Izanami's best guess, and if she was wrong, certainly Belenos wouldn't know. But it made sense, with everything she'd seen in flashes and flickers of memory.
She walked towards the edge of the hill, looking down on the graveyard below.
"I'm not sure if there were specific criteria for being interred here," she said, "but I do know that there are vaults of cremated remains underground. The markers on the surface are lists of names for those laid to rest in the vaults below. I...suppose ti all makes sense, for the Senshi of Cremation, in the end. A watcher over the dead seems...appropriate."
A grim duty, perhaps, but one that Irihime had taken to quite happily, and Kirika certainly didn't find at all terrible. After all, the dead deserved their quiet rest and well-tended graves. So even if there was much sweeping and dusting to be done, she would do it all gladly.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 9:09 pm
Bélénos hummed a bit at the answer, looking between the graveyard—which seemed pretty well maintained to her untrained eye, she supposed, so Izanami was doing a pretty good job (but she would obviously know best what was all messy about it, and Bélénos couldn't make heads nor tails of what was still messy in all the grass and rockers herself)—and then over to the house, letting out a low whistle of appreciation. "That's real dang pretty," she said softly, suddenly feeling the need to keep her voice soto. It didn't seem... right, to get loud. Which sucked, given she was a loud person in general, excitable too for that matter, but... this situation felt very... grave. Hehehe. No, stop that. "Vaults of ashes? Gosh, don't take me in there, I'll sneeze and ruin everything," she joked lightly, immediately cringing as the words left her mouth. Ugh, yeah, she had no chance, and she'd bet money that Izanami was already taken by some kind of Ken doll, acoustic guitar playing, beach blonde guy who didn't say rude stuff about her planet. "Senshi of Cremation, huh? Did you... like, cremate them yourself, or was that all, like, done by funeral fire piles or whatever you're supposed to call them?" ... Yeah, that sounded real jerkish. She winced at herself. Geez! Get it together, you useless Tiffany!!!
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 10:11 pm
Oh. That was more than a little cute. Izanami brought a hand up to cover her mouth to stifle her giggles, and shook her head.
“They’re in urns, just like they would be on Earth. It would have to be a very big sneeze to cause any real damage. But I appreciate the concern.”
She moved to the edge of the overlook, sat down, and patted the grass next to her.
“Come and sit a moment? It’s very peaceful here. And if we sit for long enough, the butterflies might turn up and land on you.”
It seemed a good enough incentive.
“Or I can take you back to Earth, if you’d like.”
Either way, this has turned out to be a lovely night.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 10:15 pm
Bélénos couldn't help her own totally helpless giggle, following Izanami and sitting where she patted the grass. "Good to know," she quipped, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I hope they come. I want to see them, before we go. Thank you, by the way."
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 10:43 pm
As if on queue, when Belenos sat down next to Izanami, a small group of butterflies seemed to appear from the cherry blossom tree, fluttering down to land on the two Senshi.
"Aha," Izanami said softly, "there they are."
It really was a beautiful sight, life returned to a world without it, and two people there to witness it. What a lucky, lovely thing.
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