local-pickpocket *The Half-Elf stands before the Blown Out Crater of his Ask Box. He stands in shock. Arm in sling, his mouth slightly agape. Shocked, not at the Crater, but at what’s inside.* Wha… what the f*ck…? *Fear begins to creep over his face as denial dissipates.* …What in the however many Hells exist did you do Burrnadot? *The pit is surrounded by a horrid, Orange creeping of… flesh, probably. It coalesces into a structure near the center. A spire. A tower of moderate, but still concerning, height.* *Pick’s face is coated in fear.* the-archangels7 youre not pick youre not pick youre not pick- *he sobs, unexpectedly* what the f*ck is going on? youraveragemagicalthief Angel, it’ll be okay. That’s not him, we just need to get him from the mirror and get him out of here. Samael?! What are you doing here!? the-archangels7 i dont- okay... i felt something was wrong. now i see. mr--zer0 Raphael, should I wait for you or go alone? the-archangels7 ill- im coming. wait up a minute. mr--zer0 Okay, I'm waiting. the-archangels7 ... okay. im right behind you. lets go. mr--zer0 Let's go, I hope we don't get lost. *starts going to the mirror room* the-archangels7 hopefully... *raphael is following closely behind, wincing at every noise* mr--zer0 Don't worry, you're immortal, right? the-archangels7 yeah, i am... mr--zer0 Why are you so worried then? the-archangels7 i can still be hurt.. and scared... local-pickpocket *A mix of a thud and a squelch from the nearby mirror room.* the-archangels7 sh*t- cmon, lets go see what that was. local-pickpocket *Pick’s body, for real this time, lays on its back, looking upwards at the ceiling. Eyes blank, face neutral.* *He doesn’t acknowledge your approach.* the-archangels7 ... pick? uhmm.. dangit, i cant use my powers to tell if hes alive. *raphael, body tense, sneaks forwards, poking pick, ready to jump backwards if needed* local-pickpocket *A few seconds pass. Then a few more. Just as you start to assume the worst, he sits up with a violent exclamation.* *Pick screams for about five seconds. His hands, changed as they are, grasp his neck, but not tightly.* *His breathing is heavy. He’s scared.* the-archangels7 woah! uh, pick? uhm- are you okay? *raphaels also scared, and hes falling back on tried and true social norms. he knows youre not okay, but he doesnt know what to say* I- it just- that- I- *He stammers over his words in a panic, a hand is still placed on his neck.* the-archangels7 hey, hey, breath. breath. whats going on? local-pickpocket It- If felt like I died again! Again! Just a small little odd feeling and then I died! *He’s curled up into a ball.* the-archangels7 o-okay, well, youre not dead right now, are you? so- we need to get out of here, soon. this place is doing weird things to us. local-pickpocket *A small noise. A shaking.* *Pick is crying, and trying to hide it. Poorly.* the-archangels7 oh-oh no, uh, do you want a hug? or something? local-pickpocket *His response, if there was any, is drowned in his own tears.* the-archangels7 *raphael pats your back a couple times, nervously* there, there? local-pickpocket *The reflection replicates the room perfectly, aside from one notable exception. Pick’s own reflection. More reminiscent of his unchanged body, the reflected Half-Elf has his hand placed on his side of the mirror. His face, however, is very different. No regular features are visible, instead having a series of letters carved into it, seemingly painfully. They spell “Fodder”.* *Pick, the real one, is still sobbing, unflatteringly.* the-archangels7 jesus f*ck... uh, pick? cmon, lets go to the others. a-anf quickly. local-pickpocket *He’s still crying. Like, a lot.* *Despite lacking a face, the reflection looks on mournfully.* the-archangels7 okay, uhm... pick, i am going to pick you up. if you are not okay with that, tell me. local-pickpocket D…don’t…. *A bit of a pause, as he cries some more. Through sobs, he sputters some more words out.* L-leave me here… I’m not… not worth it. the-archangels7 ... pick. im not leaving you here. we may bot know eachother very well, but i still care about you, and im not about to let someone i care about potentially die. ... please, pick, come with me. local-pickpocket I was gonna die anyway… just die here… *At the very least, he isn’t crying his eyes out anymore.* the-archangels7 pick. im literally a magical healer. whatevers wrong, i can fix it. and samael will help. actually, if i dont bring you back mostly alive, samael will probably kill me... local-pickpocket I LITERALLY JUST f*ckING DIED! MY LIFE HAS BEEN A CONSTANT f*ckING STREAM OF BEING THE PLAYTHING OF sh*t I CANT DO ANYTHING ABOUT! FIRST IT WAS MY FATHER, NEXT WAS A GOD FORSAKEN RING, AND NOW ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT sh*t IS HAPPENING AND I CANT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, INCLUDING SOME f*ckING ARCHANGELS WHO THINK THEY CAN PULL A SALVATION ON A MAN DAMNED FROM THE START! I’m worth less than the ground I walk on. Life has proved that. I’m literally not worth it. the-archangels7 ... ... ... fine. be like that. *raphael walks out of the room, anger practically oozing out of him - a fitting descriptor, considering where they are. however, as he exits the room, his shoulders slump, and if anyone was looking, theyd see that hes crying* local-pickpocket *As the angel leaves, Pick realizes what he did. And he breaks again.* *Failure. You complete failure. Look at what you did. You always do this. And everyone else has to pick up the pieces. Everywhere you’ve run for seven whole years has ended like this. Always ruining people’s lives. That’s all you’re good for isn’t it? You’re worth less than livestock. You’d be better off on death row.* the-archangels7 *outside the door, raphael pauses, before pulling on a rarely-used link. hes calling for samael* 'samael...' 'what.' 'come here. picks... hes pushing me away, i cant help him. he might listen to you, since you understand how greed can be like' 'ill be right there.' local-pickpocket *Leave them. They don’t deserve you. Just leave. Run away. Like you always do.* *The crying continues, quietly.* the-archangels7 *slowly, samael walks into the room. shes quiet enough to not be distracting, but loud enough so you dont get surprised when xey sit down next to you* hey. raphael told me you werent doing so hot in here. anything you wanna talk about? local-pickpocket Leave me alone… *A loud crack, like glass splintering.* I’m not worth it… *More cracks. The air behind him seems to break a bit. An illusion?* Just go away and forget about me… the-archangels7 you are worth it. i understand that you feel hurt and afraid, but trust me. i am going to get you out of here, preferably alive. we can work on your self-worth later... local-pickpocket I’m not… everywhere I go, sh*t like this happens… I’m a damn curse… *The cracks slowly split open. Behind it, some odd coloration. A space between spaces. There’s not a lot, but even any of that is an issue.* the-archangels7 okay, well lucky for you, im fairly good at removing curses. we can deal with that when were out of here. *she glances nervously at the crack, ready to grab pick if something tries to take him* local-pickpocket Just leave me be. Why can’t you see that I’m just fodder to be tossed away? *The crack widens. Enough to allow the angel to glimpse inside. She doesn’t see anything, yet.* the-archangels7 youre not fodder! i swear, youre as bad as gabriel... pick. you wanna know something? well too bad if not im telling you anyway. when the... "leader" of angels was first instated as leader, he ruled that archangels and lower were nothing more than cannon fodder if we ever got into fights with others. tell me, pick, do i look like im cannon fodder? local-pickpocket And you’re a god damned angel. You made sh*t. I haven’t done anything but scamper away from my own messes by the skin of my teeth. I was barely functional even when I didn’t have kleptomania. *The crack widens more. Behind it, an orange silhouette sits on what looks to be a pale throne. It apparently notices the crack looks confused, then reacts in… surprise?* the-archangels7 ... *she glances at the orange figure, and scowls* you know i made the sins right? like, if you think you f*cked up, you havent done worse than me. im the reason were in this mess at all. local-pickpocket …look. Just leave me alone. *The silhouette stands, looks through the crack at Pick, who hasn’t noticed, and gestures for Samael to wait a moment. It walks out of sight, towards the mirror.* the-archangels7 *samael glares at them, but stays put. she needs to help pick, after all* no. im not leaving you alone. i know you think youre worthless or whatever, but seriously? youre not. without you, raphael and ray would probably never have gotten together. and raphael and i havent been at eachothers throats for ages now. without you, wed probably still be fighting. and even not tallking about us archangels, you have impacted so many peoples lives in ways you can never understand the magnimity of. you are important. and im not letting you die yet. local-pickpocket You should listen to her, Eric. *The reflection has changed. An odd mix of Samuel’s and Pick’s looks, with his own little variations. Of course, everyone here knows who this is.* *Pick doesn’t react very visibly.* Leave me alone, Burrnadot. “Oh boo Hoo, I’m a little sad boy that can’t get over my sh*t father’s criticisms”, get over him. He was a bastard in my standards. Any opinion he has of you should be thrown away like the garbage you think you are. the-archangels7 ... *samael has stood up. shes ready to defend pick if necessary, but until then, shes happy to stand here and listen to you two* local-pickpocket …but I- But nothing. The angel speaks truth, kid. I know this better than you, apparently. Everything your piece of sh*t dad told you about yourself is not an absolute truth, hell, they’re lies. Lies to break you down and leave you an obedient little puppet to his pathetic whims. …sounds familiar. You know what? Go ahead, I deserve a few licks myself. You’re a f*cking bastard. Keep going… You’re an abusive ass who couldn’t back up the threats if you tried. You swing your power around just to get your way, like a child who can’t get it themself. Just because your kids aren’t exactly like you is no excuse to electrocute them! *Burrnadot smirks a bit. Those weren’t exactly applicable to him, but he understands that Pick needs this.* the-archangels7 *samael looks upset upon hearing picks words, but she doesnt interrupt. like burrnadot, she understands pick needs to say this* local-pickpocket Seventeen f*cking years, bitch, Seventeen years I put up with it. I’d almost saved enough money to actually disappear, and leave your useless ass behind, and I would’ve if our friend didn’t come along. I hate how you hid me, forcibly, from the world. I hate what you did to Alice, and how your stupid traditionalism led to her chaotic rebellion, and her own pain. I hate what you did to Aeldrin, and how painful your favoritism is. And I hate you. I despise you. And if I were to find you again, hell hath no fury like what I would bring upon you. Why don’t you show me? *Pick’s expression twists to rage, a hateful anger that poisons the air around him. He throws a punch into the reflective surface, and it cracks under the force. As the blow lands, Burrnadot’s illusory reflection ceases. Pick is reflected again.* *And his form is back to normal. …mostly.* *One horn remains. The shorter one.* youraveragemagicalthief [she lands on the floor, wincing] Sorry, y’all, Grey called. [she looks around] What- what happened?! local-pickpocket *Pick turns around. He looks happy, though a bit solemn.* Really intense therapy, courtesy of the angel and devil on my shoulders. Happy to help my favorite vessel. Hm? *He turns behind him, seeing nothing.* youraveragemagicalthief So you found Burn?? Are you all okay?!? local-pickpocket Yeah… Yeah. We’re all good here. Uh, one thing first. *He waves his hand at the odd tear, and it closes.* There we go. Oh good, you can clean up after yourself. *He pivots quick this time to look behind him.* You heard that too, and I don’t have long lasting symptoms after my breakdown, right? youraveragemagicalthief Yeah, I did. local-pickpocket Okay, good. Ah f*ck, jig’s up. *An orange silhouette, seemingly demonic in design, manifests beside Pick.* Howdy. …hello Burrnadot. You’re less abrasive than usual. Guess some of your own little pathetic mess of a personality has rubbed off on me. youraveragemagicalthief [she rolls her eyes] Nice to see you too, Burn. local-pickpocket *He chuckles.* Yeah, yeah… don’t worry about me. I’m chill. Yeah, I hope so. Regardless, it’s better to talk to you aloud rather than… sorta-kinda like before. Yeah, helps me too. youraveragemagicalthief Well, if the sh*tshow’s over…can we go home? local-pickpocket Well I mean, we’re already home so… Wait, that was what you were doing?!? Yeah? THIS was what you came up with?!? What’s wrong with it? It looks like the set for a f*cking horror movie! Look, it’s a work in progress! I had like, twenty minutes to make it! Oh yeah, and this is such a wonderful production Oh you’ve gotten snippy, eh? I like it. youraveragemagicalthief [she laughs] If you want, you can bunk at the Enclosure while you redecorate. I agree with Pick, though. This place is a squelching sh*tstain. local-pickpocket I reiterate: work in progress. Which means we need to do some renovating. Appreciate the offer, but I’d prefer to have Burrnadot sit in his lack of work ethic. We’ll get this thing up and running fairly quickly. We got two pairs of hands on it now. youraveragemagicalthief Good thing y’all have got yourselves together, then. See you around, call me if you need help. [she looks around] Where’s Raphael?! local-pickpocket Outside. I… oh f*ck I forgot to apologize. Hey, emotions were running high, somethings just needed to happen. No use beating yourself up over the past. Now, the present on the other hand… Yeah, I’ll take care of it. youraveragemagicalthief [snickers] I don’t think he’ll mind. [the angel smiles] He won’t. local-pickpocket …I think I insulted him. youraveragemagicalthief They’ll be fine. What matters is that we’re all safe. local-pickpocket Good point. Now, onwards, my vessel! To the ground floor for further renovation! Yeah, will do. See you guys around! *He walks his way out of the mirror room.* ( @the-archangels7 @mr--zer0 ) the-archangels7 ... hi, pick. *he looks like hes been crying, and is attempting to hide it. unfortunately, hes never been good at hiding* local-pickpocket *He looks really ashamed. His eyes avert, for a moment.* I… I’m really sorry Raphael. I’m not gonna make excuses, what I had said was wrong. Really wrong. I don’t expect you to forgive me or anything… but… I’m sorry. the-archangels7 its fine, pick. dont worry about it. *he looks sad. like he expected this to happen*
See Also
Who Are the 7 Archangels?