Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-31049256-20170919032125/@comment-28358106-20170922201936

(S9/Hound/Ant)  "She's...she's not speaking..."

Antoinette takes another step forward, talking more to herself than answering Sun-Mi. She murmurs softly. "...It's...a song.  Music.  It sounds like...something that you'd hear...in a dream.  Just on the edge of your..."

She places a hand on the beautiful pauldron...

A thousand images flash through her mind. Fragments of thoughts, pieces of the Great Truth, made whole and beautiful by its unending thread as they suddenly came together. Made real by the graspings of imperfect understanding, as the expression of that woefully inadequate word...

Love.

Love. Or, more accurately, Life. The faintest breath of Love and Beauty and Truth, found by mortals only briefly before their own candles flicker and fade, was now here, and Antoinette was in it. All of it. The Song Unending surrounded her, a Good that existed before existence. The Life that gives life.

She covers her face, laughing and weeping simultaneously. Neither is adequate for how she truly feels.

A scent surrounds her, of blossoms and spring mornings. She feels a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she pulls her hands down and looks up through tear-blurred eyes as she hears the voice.

It feels wonderful, does it not?

The Seraph fades in, emerging from a column of light. She floats away a short distance.

''The merest fragment, granted me when I departed for my task. ''

"Yes..." Antoinette's voice wavers, not quite her own.

The Seraph smiles. '' I agree. And as comforting as it is, I miss its entirety. ''

"What...what is this place?  Why am I here?" Antoinette feels her heart lifted by the Seraph's smile.

''You are here because you earned the right to be. It is no small thing. This place, a mere voice in the Choir, a single note in the Song that sings the Will everlasting. You are here because there are none like you. You understand its Music.''

Antoinette looks down and averts her eyes, feeling ashamed. "I...don't understand."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">''Nor do I. ''The Seraph comes closer. '' That is why you have been drawn here. I was sent here, but I remember not why. I awakened, held within the armor, bound to it as a conduit to your plane. Most of my power has gone, and with it, my memories. None have come who were able to understand the song. I have felt it for so long, it is a part of me, but so much of it now has lost its meaning. But you...''

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"...Caeliphon."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">The Seraph pauses. Antoinette looks up to her. "...Your name.  Your name is Caeliphon."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">''...Yes. Yes, I remember now...''

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Caeliphon looks at her hands. They glow with Light, a part of her retuning. She looks to Antoinette. Again, she smiles with kindness and warmth.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">And I knew my trust was not misplaced.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She floats forward again, closer this time, and Antoinette can feel her own body brimming with life, resonating with the Seraph as they now share a thread of the remembered Music.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">''I can protect you. I can be your shield, your armor. I can gird you with Truth. Against you, no blade can bite, no spear, nor arrow pierce. I shall turn away the hand that is held against you...''

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Antoinette looks up. "...Am I to be your chosen, then?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">No!

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Caeliphon looks shocked. '' No, no! Not mine. Not by me. Never me. A slave is commanded, but a servant chooses. You may leave me, if you wish...''

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Antoinette looks up fiercely. "No!  I will not abandon you!"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Saint Caeliphon closes her eyes and places her hands on either side of Antoinette's face. The light grows around them until they are bathed in a sea of white.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">''Then we shall choose each other. I shall serve you, and you shall serve me, and we shall seek the Song together...''

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Outside, everyone sees Antoinette put her hand on the pauldron...

<p style="font-weight:normal;">...And there is a flash of light.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She stands as she did before, but this time, she wears the glittering armor. She opens her eyes.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">No longer is it in a masculine form, but covers her body, conforming to her perfectly. Her old armor pales in comparison. She looks at her arms in awe, turning her hands over, flexing her fingers. It does not rattle, or inhibit her movement.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Antoinette!" Thomas places his hands on her arms, his face full of fear. "What happened?  Are you all right?  What was that?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Antoinette says nothing at first, but instead, stares at the floor. Smiling, she reaches up and uses an armored finger to wipe away a tear.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"I...I am fine.  Quite fine."