Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Sat Aug 1, 2020 6:07 PM, Post Subject: House Call [P]

"So even after inter-dimensional transmigration, preexisting conditions still carry over…" She mused aloud. It was something she could now confirm with better accuracy. The first case was herself, when the slivers of grief and suffering she had collected back in her own world caught up to her. And now, Sirona's case was proof that ontological inertia was indeed in effect. But she wasn't going to bore the angel with philosophical theories. She would stick strictly to the house visit, and nothing more. Despite what had happened, Kanisa was still standing strong. The core values hadn't been shaken, so she was sure they'd make a full recovery. Demoralization wouldn't be an issue here. Sirona then filled her in on what had happened while she had been holed up in Serenitas. The Voice was none too pleased at what the angel had done, and had realized there was something he had overlooked when he granted Sirona the position of deity. Along with the two spheres of light and strength, there was something else that the angel had that was a remnant of her life from her previous world. 

Before coming to Revaliir, Sirona was among a small collective of beings known as angels. If what her memories from the few times she had seen the inside of a cathedral proved correct, it meant Sirona had been a divine enforcer of sorts. There had been a falling out between her and her older brother, which led to her being sent on a one-way trip to Revaliir. The way the angel described the reason for her banishment reminded the rogue of the typical drill sergeant who often punished his inferiors for minor offenses under the umbrella of 'insubordination'. Shiloh thought it was a good thing Sirona had amnesia of that; sometimes ignorance makes living easier. And the betrayal by the hand of a family member could cut deeper and kill more painfully than any poison or torture. If she hadn't been banished, the Voice hypothesized that Sirona would have eventually started a revolution under the call for reform one way or another. Her amnesia and time away from her past had resulted in that part of her being left forgotten, until the domains of godhood provided the catalyst. Sirona's mention of Artiya'il had her raise her eyebrows briefly in surprise. Shiloh had met her sister a ways back, but she never knew the two angels were related until now. Then again, she wasn't the type of person to pry and unless she was told by the person directly, she preferred to mind her own business.

"If you want to remember more about your past, I won't discourage you. I met your sister a while back, she's a good person. I can say with a certain level of confidence that she wouldn't do anything without considering it to be in your best interest. She has a lot of patience for stubborn people…" She then looked back at Sirona and quickly added, "–I wasn't referring to you, by the way." Shiloh didn't want to give the wrong impression with her vague phrasing. "Anyway, I'm glad to see things are alright on your end. As for upsetting things and people, don't worry too much about it. Though that's probably hypocritical coming from me, really. The Conclave's had deities who've done far worse for less justifiable reasons." She figured she'd better stop talking while she was ahead, as she knew she had a tendency for not being the most encouraging when it came to positive thinking. Getting off the bench, she picked up her metallic helmet mask and put it back on, the sound of interlocking mechanisms moving in place. Turning to face the goddess one last time, she said through an unaltered voice: "Take care. You're probably one of the best deities the Conclave's had so far."

Author: Sirona, Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:28 AM, Post Subject: House Call [P]

Sirona watched as Shiloh removed the mask and set it aside, revealing her true face, but leaving the rest of her disguised. That was fine with Sirona, at least she could see Shiloh’s face while they spoke. Worried? Sirona smiled a bit, that was rather touching to hear, but Sirona didn’t interject and let Shiloh continue to speak her mind. When Shiloh finished speaking Sirona was quiet for a moment before she started to reply. ”The Clergy are doing well, those that stayed with us here after everything are more dedicated than before, I couldn’t be more proud of them, or humbled by their dedication. We’ll move forward once we rebuild a little more, back to helping the poor and hungry.” Sirona explained. ”We know that won’t be as easy as before, we have lost much trust, but, that won’t deter us. We’ll take it slow, we won’t preach, just help and try and rebuild trust.”

She paused a moment and leaned back on the bench. ”As for myself, I’ve been… ok, I suppose.” She sighed slightly, she trusted Shiloh enough to let some of her defences down. ”After everything ended, the Voice drew to the Conclave to have words. He then discovered that I had a third Aspect buried within me, the Aspect of Revolution. It wasn’t something that was noticed before when he gave me Light and Strength, and it wasn’t something I knew about either. So when I gained Strength it somehow got tangled with Revolution and made it stronger in turn. This, the Voice concluded, is what partially drove me to do what I did, though those thoughts were always in my mind Revolution drove me more towards acting them out. This does not excuse what happened of course, it’s still my decisions that led us down this path.” Sirona concluded, she wasn’t going to hide behind the Revolution Aspect as a shield against responsibility.

”As for where Revolution came from, well, the Voice believes that it’s something I came into this world with. I was banished from my home world by my older brother, Gabriel, for asking too many questions, though I don’t have any memory of those days now.” She didn’t sound too upset about it however. ”The Voice assumes that, should I have stayed in my home world I would become the Angel of Revolution, but when I was banished that aspect was pushed down until it came into contact with Strength. Who knows what would have happened in my home world, I’ll have to talk with Artiya’il, maybe she knows more about it.” Sirona shrugged slightly, she was willing to discuss it more if Shiloh was curious, but Sirona didn’t know much and could only guess at certain things.

After a moment Sirona looked to Shiloh. ”Thank you, Shiloh, for coming and checking up, it’s apricated.” Sirona smiled. ”I’ll do my best from here on out to not upset things anymore, but please don’t hesitate to ask of me anything you might need help with.”

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Tue Jun 9, 2020 1:03 AM, Post Subject: House Call [P]

Recalling how Sirona had been less than pleased to learn she had withheld the fact she was one of the Conclave when taking the request for the shield, the angel was noticeably more accepting of her consistent habit to stay incognito. Sirona then led the way to where they could converse away from the ears of the rest of the clergy, and Shiloh followed suit. They came to an area that was isolated from the rest of the Cathedral, somewhere out of the way. After taking a seat, Sirona asked her why she was here and if she preferred she keep up her ruse. If the angel was willing to play along with her compulsive tendencies, then perhaps she had been worrying over nothing. The attitude of the clergy implied that things were alright, which was a relief to see. Before answering Sirona's question, Shiloh placed her hands on the sides of her head as she partially undid her physical transmutation. There was the sound of clicking as the metallic helmet of a mask detached from her face. While the rest of her body was still a myrmidon, the reclusive deity decided to bare her face before the other goddess for what she would say next.

"Just 'Shiloh' is fine for today." Putting the mechanical mask on the bench, there was a long pause before she worked up the courage to start. "…You seem to be doing well. After what had happened I was worried." Worried for how Sirona and her clergy would fare in the aftermath of what had taken place. Taking a deep breath, she went straight to the heart of her reason for the rare personal visit. "I wanted to let you know that although I don't agree with what you did, I get why you did it. It's not an easy problem to solve; if it can be solved that is. As for why I didn't show like the others…well, I was…indisposed." Yes, that was the word. There wasn't a good way to describe re-experiencing suppressed trauma and severe anxiety attacks. "When I heard your declaration to the world, it brought back some unpleasant memories. Things I'd rather not think about. I'm not blaming you for it, I just wanted to explain why I didn't come and tell you what I'm saying to you now back then." 

Bringing her knees to her chest and her feet up on the bench while still sitting, she got into a more comfortable position. Resting her head on her knees and wrapping her arms around them, Shiloh looked down at the ground. "So how are things going with you and your people?" Small talk was never her strong suit, but she knew enough to tell someone when she cared. She was better off being the listening ear and silent support than the one giving others advice.

Author: Sirona, Posted: Sun Jun 7, 2020 10:04 AM, Post Subject: House Call [P]

When the visitor arrived Sirona was in Mafunzo training on her own. Oh there were other Clergy working together in the training areas, but Sirona was in a corner on her own, aside from the training dummies she was using. Once again Sirona wasn’t wearing her usual armour, instead she was wearing plain clothing that was perhaps a size or two too large, better able to not show off her figure. She wore simple slippers on her feet but still had socks on, and she wore long evening style gloves that went up into her long sleeve shirt. Even without her armour on Sirona still covered as much of her skin as possible, it was just how she was.

Sirona was training with two shields in her hands instead of a sword, something her Clergy had noticed her doing as of late. In her left hand was her Ouroboros shield and in her right was Faith, the shield that Shiloh had created for her from material that Sirona had supplied from Onnen. The Leadwood and darkened platinum shield, covered in decorative Celtic knots, was a fine shield indeed and Sirona was focused on mastering its use. For within the layers of wood that made up the shield were ruins and enchantments that allowed the shield to sail through the air when thrown.

Lady Glory felt the presence arrive at her Cathedral just as she was bashing one dummy with the Ouroboros shield and flung Faith outward. It sailed into the throat of one dummy before ricocheting off and connecting with the throat of another, and then another before it sailed back to Sirona and she caught it out of the air and slipped it back into place on her arm.

It was a moment later that she was told of the visitor looking for her. ”I’ll be right there.” Sirona replied to her Clergy with a respectful nod. Sirona set her shields down and out of the way if anyone else wanted to use the spot she had been using. With that done she made her way across the small courtyard and inside the one Transept and to the Narthex from there.

Coming up to the Steward of Antikythera Sirona smiled slightly. ”Greetings.” She Started looking the ‘Steward’ up and down for a moment, this was Sirona’s realm, she wasn’t fooled. ”Please, follow me, we can talk in private.” If that offered was accepted Sirona would lead them outside to an area between the main Cathedral and Maobi building and found a bench for them to sit together out of ear shot of anyone else. ”What can I do for you? I have to assume I know what you may want to talk about, but, first, do you want me to use your real name or do you have another you want go by for now?” Sirona asked with a small grin, she wasn’t upset about the disguise at all.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Fri Jun 5, 2020 12:08 PM, Post Subject: House Call [P]

The panic was over. She could breathe again. No more racing thoughts, no more tightness in her throat, and no more feeling like her stomach was tying itself in knots. The people were safe again. Her people were safe. She had no idea how long she had locked herself away, but now that she wasn't gripped by overwhelming fear, there was something she had to do. Even in the closed off realm of Serenitas, Shiloh was able to monitor the world through other means. She was aware when the perpetual daylight ended, and she knew what had been done. While the world was busy rebuilding and returning to a state of normalcy, there was no doubt that Sirona had inexplicably crossed a point of no return. After all that was said and done, the only thing people would remember from this would be the endless day and an invasion of otherworldly beings at the goddess' behest. There was no turning back for the damage that had been done…to Sirona's image, that is. The world was fine; bruised but not broken. These were scars that would heal in comparison to what other past members of the Conclave had wrought upon all. Since she had issued the order that all affiliates and employees of Antikythera were to remain out of combat, it was possible that others noticed her lack of presence. Whether she wanted it or not, Shiloh decided to explain her actions to the most important person involved–Sirona herself.

Arriving at Kanisa Kuu la Malaika, she could feel a lingering heaviness in the air. It wasn't physical, but it could have just been her imagination after all that had taken place. She went in the form of one of her myrmidons when she entered the Narthex. And when a clergy member approached the metallic figure, a distorted voice spoke. "I wish to seek an audience with Lady Glory." Then she held up a medallion with the symbol of the Machinarium as an explanation. "I request on behalf of the Steward of Antikythera." If Sirona wasn't taking visitors, Shiloh had no problems waiting until she could. For once, she had all the time in the world.