Somewhere inside the Temple of Being

The chamber that Lilac has been deposited in is more of a nook than anything, perhaps like the appendix along a digestive tract. The fleshy, membranous walls are warm and somewhat wet like most things here, but are otherwise featureless but for the sheets of skin that were the cyst Dragonfly drained out of. The eeee is shaken, but seems to otherwise collect herself finding something at least recognizable as a person here.

"How … How do you feel?" Lilac inquires, leaning back from the other woman so she can take a good look at her. "Do you feel … intact? Are your memories okay? How's your, um … " Ears reddening, Lilac can't quite bring herself to look, but asks anyway: "How's your neck, Dragonfly?"

"I feel… I feel alright, I think," gasps the eeee, still catching her breath. Her sodden clothing clings to her, somewhat gooey with the fluid that she was suspended in. The belly of her blouse is torn away, and she rubs absently at her stomach. Her hands go to her face, wiping it off as best she can. "The last thing I remember was being in the temple's spirit room, writing in my journal. Something jumped at me from the dark, and… and… " She puts a hand to her throat again, but it's unbroken and unmarred, scarless. Something makes her shiver.

"Oh. You … you remember that, then." Lilac closes her eyes, puling back from Dragonfly and closing her eyes. "Well." She lets the word hang in the air as she gathers her thoughts, needing a moment to muster her courage. It helps somewhat that she's already been through hell, and is too tired to really feel worried, but admitting to murder still makes Lilac shiver inside. "You see … I … " She peeks an eye open, noting the woman's face, intact neck, and with some discomfort, her exposed belly, " … That is, you died." Quickly, she holds a hand up to forestall any reply, adding, "BUT, you're fine now!"

"I died?!" A look of disbelief crosses Dragonfly's face, and she shakes her head. "How could that be? Is this the afterlife?" She glances around uncertainly, still wiping at herself uselessly with gooey hands. "I didn't think it would be this… uh, moist."

"I'm afraid so. I know, because I … I … " Lilac gestures up at her fuzzy ears, then grabs her tail and wags it at Dragonfly. "I killed you. I … " Swallowing and finding admitting killing someone to their face is much harder than she expected it to be, Lilac gestures vaguely, then adds, "I brought you here, to bring you back. This isn't the afterlife, but it is divine. This is the god of the Temple of Being."

Lamely, Lilac adds in afterthought, "I didn't expect a god to be so squishy, either."

The eeee stares for a moment. "You're pulling my leg. This is some sort of joke. Is someone putting you up to this? How could-… " She pauses, seeming to notice something when she glances over her shoulders… then suddenly her wings snap open, and she stares at the sails of skin in shock. "Wh-… what happened to my tattoos?!" The cell-like patterns are in fact gone.

"No it's really n-!" Lilac blinks, pausing suddenly at Dragonfly's outburst. Standing to her feet, Lilac walks over and hunches down to look at Dragonfly's tattoos, leaning back in surprise! "They're gone!" Her head cocks to the side, and she frowns. "But, why?" A pause, and Lilac looks Dragonfly in the face. "I don't know," she replies, finally. "I tell you true, none of this is a lie, but … I didn't ask for that," she says, pointing at Dragonfly's wings. "The pact was for your life. I … Oh, well, there's one way to know and convince you too, but I had hoped to … " the human shudders, " … To avoid that as long as possible."

Leaning back, Lilac looks up and calls out, "God of the Temple of Being? Are you there?"

Dragonfly looks on questioningly… until a bulge sags down from the ceiling, and splits in half, revealing one of the Temple's many eyes. The voice comes from everywhere again, making the eeee fall flat on her back, wings beating in her confusion. "I am always here," comes the voice. "And you are within me, as I am within you."

Lilac's eyes widen, and she quickly waves her hands at the eye in a 'don't say that,' manner. Despite the horrors the temple wrought on her, much was forgiven – or at least intentionally forgotten – with Dragonfly's rebirth. The pain and suffering served as the coals on which Lilac walked to atone, and the deal was largely met. Whatever the Temple of Being may be, whatever it did to her, and whatever nightmares it will bring, it was fair. Lilac cannot hate it. Indeed, she can barely comprehend it, finding it as mysterious as a storm, or a mountain. Still, she hopes it isn't asking the same question in her belly.

Trying to push out any thoughts of her belly for the time being, Lilac then gestures to the eye. "See, this is the god of the Temple of Being. Well," she gestures around, "ALL of this is. We're in the god, somewhere below the waters of the Temple. When you … you died, I stole your journal, and that's how I knew I had made a mistake. I read the glyphs, and I carried your body in to the currents. You have no idea how guilty I was, I nearly die- … Well." Lilac kneels down, then awkwardly pats Dragonfly's leg in an effort to seem comforting, "I was willing to risk everything on a chance to bring you back from the dead. L-lucky for us, my prayers were heard."

"But-… " Dragonfly pauses, then nods numbly. "So… the things we researched, the carvings and artifacts… they were more literal than we could have imagined. The kidnapping, the guards, it all makes sense now." She touches her neck again, eyeing Lilac. "Then, who are you?"

"Oh, me?" Lilac blinks, forgetting Dragonfly might want to know who she is, having been distracted by the multitude of weird and impossible around her. She looks down at herself, the smiles and shrugs uncomfortably. "I'm a bard," she answer. "Lilac, the Flower … of Sylvania. I, I suppose I'm not much of a flower anymore. Lilac, the ghost of Sylvania. Lilac, the monster. I'm cursed, you see, I … change. I was hunting and I got … " she wiggles her fingers, "overconfident and overeager. I know, I know," she holds up a hand, "I murdered someone, and I know how bad that is! But that's all I can say to describe it. I got … carried away." She shrugs a little, unable to explain it better. "I and the others are here for the Curators, although I stayed behind, alone, to try and hinder their army. Um, it wasn't a very good idea."

Dragonfly sits back up, glancing up at the ceiling where the gelatinous orb shimmers, the eye twitching every so often as it refocuses on some other feature. "I see," she says, hesitantly. The eeee shakes her head. "I mean, I don't fully comprehend, but I guess… I guess the notions you present aren't any more fantastical than what I'm seeing right now." She looks around again, as if really taking in her surroundings for the first time, ears tipped alertly forward. "So, you… um, killed me, then brought me here and made a deal with this… uh… with here, and it healed me?" She turns her attention away from the fleshy walls to look at Lilac thoughtfully.

The scrutiny suddenly makes Lilac uncomfortable, her ears redding all the more, flattening as she looks away. "I know it all sounds, well, impossible, but that's exactly the truth of it. I couldn't make up a weirder story," she admits.

The eeee looks up again, contemplative. "It must have have removed my tattoos."

"That which was not of you, we removed from you," confirms the voice.

"Well, there you have it," Lilac adds, gesturing up at the eye. "I believe this is the god of the Temple of Being. Surely, it knows of being. When I first arrived, we spoke at length, and I learned of the Temple and those who came before me. Apparently, we're the first in a long time. The others, well … Actually," Lilac looks up, frowning a moment before asking, "God of the Temple, did those before us, the Naga that used to live here, did they … give of themselves until they had nothing to give? Are they the … the red creatures, in the pools?"

"They did. They are. I am, now."

Lilac sucks in a breath, forgetting, for a moment, Dragonfly. "But, God of the Temple, did they know that would happen? Didn't you care about them? Are we … " she pauses to shoot Dragonfly a worried look, before returning her gaze to the eye, " … is that our fate?"

"All small beings have desires," comes the voice. "They are born with them, they form more of them. They ask of me, and pacts are made. So they lived among me, until they gave me everything. None could leave, for the rocks and sand hold only death for such frail, small beings."

"It's … it's like the story of the wishing stone," Lilac breathes, looking down at her hands. "The wishing stone is a story that teaches a lesson, it's has a moral. I'd tell it to you … " she glances up, frowning again, " … you both, but this isn't the time, is it? It's enough to know the young man wished and wished, and in the end he had destroyed all he loved, for his wishes were ill-thought, and through them he brought only unintentional misery." Lilac shakes her head, asking the Temple, "And the Beast Lands, the lands north, did you make them, too? The great beasts, O Temple? Are they the people who wished power and strength at the expense of their minds?"

A quake runs through the temple… like a shudder. "Some went to that place, and became beyond my reach. There is a power there, older than I, unfathomable. It is where Mother went, and where Mother must have perished."

"Old and more powerful than you?" Lilac blinks, unable to comprehend this being when it's right in front of her, and at a loss to imagine something greater still. It makes her feel very small, and all her cursed power, all her confidence, seem like nothing at all. "Can you tell me of your Mother, O Temple? We, um … " she gestures at herself vaguely, turning her back so Dragonfly might not be able to see her do it, " … well, I'm curious."

Dragonfly, for her part, just seems to be listening intently. Occasionally, she looks at Lilac, watching her with equal curiosity. The Temple merely replies with, "I was born of Mother."

Lilac's ears twitch, then go askew. "You don't remember her face? Was she like you, great, and concerned with Being? Was she like me? Like Dragonfly?"

There's a pause. "Mother was… pure. Mother was mind and emotion, was body, was spirit, was all of these things, was all aspects of these things. Mother was everything, and yet nothing, but all that Mother touched could be shaped like so much water."

Again Lilac glances to Dragonfly, wondering of the scholar had ever heard of such a being. "Amazing." She frowns a little, then reaches over and pats the wall of the Temple, absently thinking she should console it. Taking another breath, Lilac says, "I know of a place that the Society of Cinders is also interested, a perhaps a place of similar power, or not. It is what may have made me what I am." Lilac touches her ears. "O Temple, the part of me that is not me, is it familiar to you?"

At this, Dragonfly watches Lilac very carefully. The Temple answers, "It hides within you, is of the intangible other. It is very complex. I have not seen its like before, but it is how you wear two bodies."

Lilac inclines her head to the answer. "That's about all I know, too. And now … " She looks down, peering at her belly and frowning. After casting a nervous look back at Dragonfly, Lilac asks, "I … remember that you … used some of the … the … " she shudders, " … small red creatures when you … You know. They were, they were people and did you … do the same with Dragonfly?"

Dragonfly looks up at the eye in the ceiling, which looks back at her when the Temple replies. "I reunited and restored all parts of her being, and removed that which was not of her. She is whole."

"More than whole … ?" Lilac prompts, brow raised.

"Whole."

Lilac peers at the eye, trying to find hidden meaning where the Temple may hide it. Alas, she finds the Temple of Being as puzzling as ever, and accepts its answer. "I see." She nods, then adds, "Thank you for saving her. Now," Lilac looks to Dragonfly, frowning, "Dragonfly, we can't remain here forever. I suppose you can understand when I say, I could talk to the Temple of Being endlessly, but we should also think about when we must go. Dragonfly, do you know what Hakuu and his army wants from the Temple of Being?"

The eeee hesitates, apparently finding the eye staring down as she speaks to be a bit discomfiting, but she presses on. "I can only assume the organization seeks power out of this place. This… being is incredible. We'd been studying the growth around the area as well as remains the colony that lived here left behind. What we assumed were creatures, things we found embedded in the rock and written about by the colony, must be parts of this creature itself." She pauses thoughtfully. "Lord Hakuu, yes, I remember that name now. He's directed some of the efforts, but he also seems to be interested in some designs of his own. I think he's interested in the shaping described, moreso than the Temple itself."

"Yes, they're the Temple's extremities. I'm unsure if," Lilac glances up at the eye, "if all the poking and prodding annoy the Temple, but the Temple is aware of their presence, and has said as much to me." Leveling her gaze, Lilac then tilts her head and gestures off towards the surface beyond the flesh, water, and stone. "Hakuu, I refuse to call him lord, is a cruel man, a mage, an an artists. He seems to shape flesh and minds. I think he seeks the Temple of Being for its power, but … I don't trust him to be fair about it, or to … fall to ill-wishes, as others have. He has considerable mages with him, and an army. I fear he will use the Temple to the detriment of everyone, and if he cannot get what he wants, he will force the Temple somehow. He must not come here."

Dragonfly nods resolute agreement. "I've got no love for them, that's for sure. Many of the scholars up there were kidnapped, like I was. Some have been trying to find ways to resist, but they keep a very tight rein on us when we're not working, and only slightly less when we are. I think I'm the only one who dared venture much into the hall of spirits… there's so much to find and learn about in the others that they've prioritized the most disturbing one last, I think." She rubs her head, disturbing some of the hair matted to her head by drying gunk, ringlets pasted to the side of her neck. "How long have I been down here? They've probably noticed I've gone missing, by now."

"Well, they probably noticed I stole some maps, um … you … and some other things I did above, too. I was going to try and hinder them violently, but I'm just not cut out for violence. I have no idea what I'm doing. I think I'll stick to protecting people, and leave the attacking to my friends who know better," Lilac admits. She looks up to the eye, tilting her head. "O Temple, do you protect your pact makers? Would you listen to me, if I said that army above must not meet with you, that I think it will bring you harm? Or," she blinks, struggling with conflicting feelings over a entity that, in a very real sense, is a part of her, "would you ignore me, and speak with them?"

The eye closes. "They are small beings."

"They have magic, a lot of magic. Do you know magic, O Temple? The fires of mages, their sight beyond mortal ken? I … I don't know how to explain it to you, or even if you care about us. I know you care about your existence, and I think he may be able to threaten that. But … " Lilac shakes her head, then sighs. When she looks up, she looks tired, ears dropping. "I don't know if the Temple of Being understands, or cares. I've been speaking with It since I arrived, and I still don't understand it. Well, it may not be a good god, but it is a fair one, and either way I … I don't want to see it used. For our sake, for Its sake, and for the world's sake." She then shakes her head, as if the idea were too much to endure. "Dragonfly, I think I can rescue you alone, but I fear what would come if we left the Temple of Being undefended. Another army comes, one guided by Curators, but … it may arrive late."

At the mention of 'Curators', Dragonfly leans forward again. "Who're these Curators you're talking about?"

"Oh!" Lilac's ears shoot up, and she almost laughs. "I think I'm in over my head. I'm so buried in the impossible I forget the littlest things, I'm so sorry, Dragonfly." Lilac glances at the eye again, then tells Dragonfly, "Gibson and Anisa Snowshoe, a noblewoman named Umeko, myself, and a mage we hired named Xander. We originally met because we have … issues … with Hakuu, Umeko and I do, but this is bigger than our issues. We met the Curators in Rephidim, shortly after your kidnapping. We tried to stop that, but we only managed to save one person."

"There are others with us, as well, but they're not Curators proper. I suppose neither is the mage Xander, but he's a mage, so I just lump him in with official anyway," Lilac adds.

Dragonfly nods, then glances up at the ceiling again. The eye seems to have lost interest, the slit in the ceiling beginning to seal shut. "Based on what we're deciphered and this, uh, conversation we've had here, it seems like the Temple is very… " She gesticulates vaguely, giving the ceiling a worried look again, as if she's afraid it's listening and will be offended. "… Focused on its growth. I can't begin to imagine how such a thing came into existence, but it seems to boil down to very specific drives, and I don't know that it'll pay attention to us unless we're fulfilling something. I don't know if it's going to feed us, and I'm not sure I want to guess what it would feed us, so I for one would like to get out."

Lilac follows Dragonfly's gaze, and nods as she speaks. "The Temple is the most unusual being, a god, I have ever met. It is wise and unfathomable, and yet, it's almost simple in what it desires. But you're right, we … " Lilac peers at where the eye was, and for a moment, thinks of her and the Temple child. She wonders if the Temple even cares about it, about the baby's future, and what to do about the whole mess. She wonders if her choice wasn't yet another in a long string of mistakes. Yet, she can't help think this, at least, was the right choice. Dragonfly is alive, and the rest she can deal with herself – hopefully. "Well, we should go. I have a cave nearby we can stop at, and then we must decide if we will stay or leave the desert and attempt to meet up with my friends. The hardest part will be getting out of here. The room I entered from was full of people."

"Mm, yes, I can imagine," says Dragonfly, wincing. She gnaws her lip, then makes a face when she tastes what was coating her, and stops. "Give me some time to think, and maybe I can figure a way through here that'd let us come up someplace that's not so populated."

"Okay. And, Dragonfly … " Lilac leans back, dropping her back against the fleshy wall, "I'm sorry about what happened, I really am. Whatever happens, I'm glad I was able to save you." She smiles a little, then folds her hands atop her belly, patting it absently. "I'll see you safe, yet."

Dragonfly gives Lilac a sort of half-smile, and she rubs her neck thoughtfully. "Get us out of here, and all is forgiven. Even the tattoos."

Lilac smiles more at that. "I'm glad," she replies. "Now, I think I'm going to take a nap, now." Sliding down, Lilac gets as comfortable as she can in a place like this. She closes her eyes, then murmurs, "Oh, and don't mind me if I turn in to a furry monster. You'll probably get to see that sooner or later, anyway. I don't usually bite."