303/A Visit to the Mountain

A Visit to the Mountain
Date of Scene:	29 July 2014
Location:	Earth-1111
Synopsis:	D comes to Purgatorio to catch up and visit an old friend, and perhaps find some peace.
Cast of Characters:	232, 238

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Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Unlike Inferno and Paradiso, there's currently only one way to Purgatorio. D is given directions to an isolated lake in Beli's iteration of Earth, where neither the blue clouds of Paradiso nor the red clouds of Inferno hang over the sky. A forest surrounds it, the air clear and fresh, if remarkably silent. No animals choose to linger anywhere near the lake, perhaps warded off by the strange energies that come off it. Feeling both blessed and cursed at once, the lake is obviously not normal to anyone with a sense for the supernatural.

    Then he must go into the lake, moving down until the water slips over him completely. At that moment, everything shifts; a feeling of displacement hangs in the air, and in the next moment, he is standing on the beach at the base of Purgatorio's towering mountain, where the endless ocean laps at the shore and the thousands of faint, ghostly forms of humans who have not yet ascended linger on the sand. Conveniently, he arrives right in front of one of the staircases carved into the gigantic mountain's cliffside that rises up to the next level, though he may not need it today.

    Beli is already there waiting by the staircase, her wings and halo hidden for the moment and a weighty plastic bag hanging by her side from her pale fingers. The rephaite simply looks out at the ocean as she waits, her long hair flowing in the gentle breeze and a small smile of contentment lingering on her expression.

D (232) has posed:
    The lake consumes the Hunter, and deposits him in another world. It is not the strangest thing he has experienced, but it is odd all the same, and he emerges with eyes widened and head turning side to side so he can take in his new surroundings. The souls of the lost, the sands of a foreign shore, and the eternal mountains of Purgatorio greet him. Compared to all that, the sight of Beli -- Purgatorio's half-angel, half-demon caretaker -- is almost mundane.

    D steps forward to offer the girl a slight bow of respect. "Greetings, Beli. Thank you for inviting me to your home. You look well; I see your duties suit you." There is no other cause for her to appear so content. To find fulfillment in one's work is a rare fortune; Beli is among uncommon ranks for more than her lineage alone.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Beli's attention immediately turns to D when he arrives, her warm, honest smile as radiant as the black sun and white moon that flank the mountain. Fitting that this seems to be the one land where she doesn't look completely out of place. "Ah, D! It is wonderful to see you again. Here, I made sure to bring your favorite." She lifts the bag to him: it is, perhaps unsurprisingly, filled with chocolate cookies. They're still warm, clearly baked not too long ago. "...or...well, at least what you seemed to like the last time I brought them to you. Though that was a while ago. Have your tastes changed much?"

    Her smile turns faintly embarrassed as she lifts her free hand, combing pale fingers through her dark hair. Eyes of blue and green shift aside to glance at the faint souls lingering along the beach. "I suppose they do. It is good to have something I belong to after so long. Something that is...purely my own. It was worth the wait and effort, I think."

    The rephaite breathes a contented sigh before looking back at D suddenly, as if pulling herself free from a distraction. Her laughter is soft and bright. "Ah, right, but I do not think you came here for me to ramble. Would you like to walk along the beach, or try climbing up to the garden? I would really like to hear how you have been lately."

D (232) has posed:
    The smile the Hunter gifts to Beli couldn't rightly be called a smile on any other face, but for a man as stoic as he is, even the most subtle change can bring life and warmth to his facade. He takes the bag, gracious even in accepting a frivolity. "Thank you for thinking of me, Beli. My tastes have not changed. Please thank your wife for me, too -- I have no doubt she contributed to the gift."

    It has been some time since Cecily had been seen at all; he assumes she has found the domestic life to her liking, and does not pry into her whereabouts or status.

    "You are not rambling. I would like to see the garden, if you think it is a climb we can make. I do not wish for my presence to disturb anyone here on the beach below." Tucking the package beneath his arm, he uses the other to gesture Beli into the lead. He will follow wherever she takes him, his strides slow and silent. The backdrop lends him an eerie quality he does not often possess in the true world. He moves like an apparition, like someone who is apart from all things.

    "To address your curiosity, I...am as well I can be, given the challenges of the Multiverse." He continues to turn his head from one admirable view to the next, keenly observant of all which surrounds him. "I suppose you saw the exhibition match."

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    "Ah, of course I will. She is still a much better cook than I. Maybe someday I will have to learn to do these things myself." Beli nods, her smile growing slightly when the package is accepted. She's known D long enough to notice the tiny signs of pleasantness that occasionally shift his rigid countenance, and even those small shifts are enough to bring her happiness in turn.

    Another nod is given before she glances up at the mountain's peak. It's a long, long walk; unsurprising, perhaps, that so few of the souls there have made it to the top, and less surprising still that so many have remained at the bottom. It's a daunting climb for anyone. "...well. I suppose we may as well try. I have not actually done it myself yet. Flying comes more naturally."

    The angel-demon starts forward, then, moving up the spiral staircase carved into the cliffside. It's wide enough for three people to move side-by-side; surely there will be plenty of space, if D decides to walk beside her. Whether or not he does, however, Beli's attention remains turned to him as they ascend, keeping her curious gaze fixed on her guest and friend. The mention of the exhibition match is enough to make her smile waver slightly, but she nods all the same. "I did. I am sorry I did not make it out there in person, but I made sure to watch it all the same." She pauses in thought for a moment as they pass a soul standing on the stair's edge and gazing out at the ocean. "...she seems to enjoy provoking you. She...reminds me of Dantalion, in a way."

    A soft sigh falls from her lips, and her smile returns just as gently as they walk. "I think it was for the best that you ended the match rather than pushing yourself further, though. I know those situations are...difficult to deal with."

D (232) has posed:
    "Miss Gorgon is indeed a skilled antagonist. Patience is her greatest weapon...and perhaps her ability to understand her enemies. I have been unable to keep my secrets secure in her company, either because she is a more able manipulator than I believe, or because she understands how to press me for truths." D's smile is long gone, in recounting all this; in its place appears a very faint frown. All at once, a weariness is revealed in him which runs deeper than the kind brought on by great age. He is taxed, body, mind, and soul.

    "I have had some help in recovering from the exhibition match, but the match itself appears not to be the end of Miss Gorgon's harassment, and 'help' is no longer sufficient. My only choice is to keep my distance, and to leave the matter of Crona to others who have become less...vulnerable."

    Judging by his sour tone, he mislikes admitting his weaknesses, but he is a pragmatic man, and lying to Beli would gain him nothing. "We all have our troubles. It is no matter. I have greater challenges ahead of me."

    He steps up beside Beli now, continuing the climb without difficulty. As long as it is, his endurance may eventually be tested, but for now he is graceful, each step conquered with ease.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Beli, though she may go on now and then when allowed to speak, is perfectly content to be a silent listener. She was once even more quiet than she is now, after all; listening was far more natural to her than speaking, at least when dealing with others. Now is no different, and though a small frown starts to form on her expression and her hand lifts to comfortingly rest on D's shoulder when he walks beside her, she is still silent as he speaks.

    "I have met...many people like that," she finally sighs, arms crossing over her chest as she walks. "They poke and prod to gain a response and then revel in it and use it as further ammunition. They find weaknesses for their own amusement. The most you can really do is...stop giving them any sort of reaction, really." The rephaite shakes her head in resentment, bristling faintly. She hasn't liked Medusa ever since the woman's true demeanor was revealed, and this clearly isn't making the woman any more appealing in her mind. At least now she is better at controlling her dual nature: the spiteful growling of the wrathful demon is tucked aside and silenced, pushed into a more quiet irritation that only leaves her faintly bristling.

    Beli's gaze lifts ahead as they start to approach the second level of the mountain. The walk is not terribly taxing so far, at least. It appears to be the same for the souls living here, for a good number of them appear to linger on the second level, slightly more solid than their kin on the beach. "I am glad you are not pushing yourself anymore. You are a strong and capable person, and many people have need for someone like you. To be broken by one person's hounding would be..." She trails off faintly, uncertain of exactly the word to use to describe how bad the situation would be. Oh, well; she shakes it off and continues, giving D another one of her warm smiles. "If you need a refuge for a while, you can always come to Purgatorio. Nobody in the Confederacy knows where it is, and I am not sure how many people in the Union know either. And if there is anything else I can do to help, you only need to let me know. My own work is not so taxing that I cannot do something for a dear friend."

D (232) has posed:
    'A dear friend.' There was a time when D would find the claim to be specious at best, an outright lie at worst. He has had no more than two dozen or so in his long life express any significant care for him, his very nature repellent to the majority of those he's met. Of the select few who have referred to him as 'friend,' the sentiment seldom lingered past their deaths, their children and grandchildren inheriting none of the compassion once given freely to D.

    You don't hunt so you can make friends.

    The Hunter does not smile.

    "Thank you, Miss Klum. Your kindness is a comfort. I will not take your offer yet, but I will keep it in mind should it become necessary. I find it curious Lord Dracula is not aware of where your domain lies. I thought he would have some awareness of his offspring -- the girls you took in. I don't suppose there has been any change in their affliction? Do they remain turned?"

    The fate of the village girls fails to stir his heart beyond a dim sense of regret. There had never been anything he could have done for them. If he had been given an opportunity to save their lives and had failed, he might suffer some guilt, but there was never a chance. Guilt over those events outside his control is something he learned a long time ago to shrug away.

    Mostly.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Beli is abruptly given pause at that question just as they reach the second level. She blinks in silence, glancing over to D as if he abruptly reminded her of something she completely forgot about. If the sudden, light smack of her palm hitting her face that follows is an indication of anything, that may have just been exactly what happened.

    "...oh, I forgot to tell you," she groans, her voice muffled before she lets her hand fall to her side again. The rephaite sighs in exaspiration. Even now, she seems to take personal failings heavily on herself, no matter how small. "How stupid of me. Ah...Purgatorio had no influence on them, as I expected, but...I did start trying to treat them with my seraphic flames. They are cleansing, after all, and I guess you could call Dracula's turning of them a sort of disease or curse. I thought that if they were naturally human rather than being a vampire by nature, then it would have the effect of reversing it."

    That frown settles on Beli's face again as she lifts a hand to her hair, combing her fingers through black strands. "I only use a little on one of them. It clearly hurt, since I suppose the turning is pretty deeply seated, but...I think it may have been starting to have some effect. I stopped since I did not want to risk hurting her any more, at least not before talking with you, but I guess things must have kept coming up and I forgot to bring it up."

    Again her arms cross over her chest as that brief moment of anxiety fades. "In any case...I am sorry I did not mention it to you before. There is a chance, however, that my flames may be able to cleanse that sort of transformation if the host is not naturally a vampire. At least those from Dracula's world." She shrugs a little helplessly, then. "...if he knows about their location, he clearly has not cared at all about it. These things /are/ different between worlds, though. Maybe...in his world, it is more like transferring a disease from one host to the next, rather than creating some sort of...child. Or maybe he only turned them to get at you, and he does not actually care about what happens to them. I would not put it past him, especially considering the kinds of people under his command."

D (232) has posed:
    "I see. It was good of you to risk the treatment to this point. Without understanding the full nature of their disease, I...could not advise you on exactly how to continue caring for the girls. Your instinct and understanding of your own gifts may be your best guide. If you think the girls can exchange a short term of suffering for a return to healthy humanity, then I say the pain is worthwhile."

    D's hand briefly surrounds Beli's shoulder in a comforting squeeze, gesture returned for gesture. His palm as always is cool rather than warm, but the desire to see Beli's anxiety eased makes up for the lack of human familiarity.

    "Perhaps Lord Dracula has not come for his spawn because he wishes to see how we react to their affliction. It would be like him to be curious, I think." Of course, he may be basing that on his knowledge of his own progenitor. Sometimes, Dracula Vlad Tepes and the Sacred Ancestor have a great deal in common; this is possibly one such time.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    The touch to her shoulder is something of a surprise. Beli knows that D is not exactly an outgoing person, more content to keeping to himself rather than reaching out to others. Even that small gesture, though brief and physically cold, is noted as a sign of his caring. Though she stares at him in surprise for a moment, a small smile soon creeps back into her expression, its arrival removing any lingering tension in her form.

    She gives a brief sigh, then, nodding in assent. "If you think that is what is best, then...I will try soon. The next question would be what to do with them after that. I could keep them here, I guess, but there is not a lot for them to do aside from trying to help encourage souls to continue their climb. Or interacting with the ones who have made it to the garden. It is not like anywhere else in my world is safe, after all..."

    The rephaite falls silent for a moment, staring out into the ocean in thought. Soon enough, she simply shakes her head, clearing her mind of wandering thoughts before she looks back up at D. "...right, anyway...I guess this would be the safest location to keep them afterward. I am not sure how many people would think to submerge themselves in one particular lake to find this place, even if he did know where they were. These afterlives seem to be a little...detached from the rest of the world."

D (232) has posed:
    "Perhaps the girls will be glad to be caretakers here. If your burden can be shared, it should be -- you cannot be the only one to oversee so many, after all. Perhaps taking them on as your apprentices will be good for you. The people of my world possess an incredible gift for resilience and kindness in the face of adversity. Such traits may be welcome here."

    D continues onward and upward, resuming the climb in his slow, patient manner. He has only had haste about him in times of urgency; otherwise, he has taken his journeys at an easy pace. With thousands of years yet to be lived, how could he do otherwise? It's not as if /rushing/ would change anything. Purgatorio is to be as eternal a place as the heavens above and infernal realms below. D could take a thousand years to climb the peaks, and little around him will have altered.

    There is peace to be found in the journey.

    "You could also attempt to persuade the villagers to take back their lost daughters. You may succeed; I would certainly fail. Beratement will only cow the people for a short time. If you can remind them of their compassion..."

    He shrugs. The motion ripples through his cloak.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Ah, the climb. She had almost forgotten about that. When D continues, so does Beli, keeping to his side as they ascend the curving stone steps. A few spirits turn to watch them, but save for one adventurous soul slowly climbing the stairs, none follow.

    It is not an easy climb, though that appears to be the point of this world. Inferno is endless punishment, and Paradiso is endless relief, but Purgatorio appears to be something in the middle. It is hardship, but it is also choice. The choice to experience struggle for the sake of freedom and peace. The choice to push oneself further and further for one's own betterment. That same personal choice that Beli has held so dearly in the last several years, now embodied in the afterlife she watches over.

    Beli considers this at D's suggestion, her gaze lifting to the plateau formed by Purgatorio's peak. "...yes, I think they would be. I denied any assistance in creating followers to share my task, like the demon lords and archangels of the other afterlives. I did not want to force anyone to share my burden. But...if they decide to, then I will let them, and I will try to guide them too. I want them to decide for themselves what would be best, rather than telling them how the rest of their lives will be lived."

    Her arms fold behind her back as she looks back at D again, smiling gently still. "If they want to go back to their families, then I will do what I can to see that wish fulfilled, instead. It has been so long now, though. I only hope that my own compassion can be enough, if it comes to that."

D (232) has posed:
    "Your compassion altered the destiny of an entire world and its millions of lives; surely, it is enough to move the hearts of a few Frontiersmen." D's faint 'smile' returns as he looks down to Beli. Yes, he /has/ changed. He has become more trusting of his allies, and more open. Although still given to intense stoicism and self-made isolation, he has become more willing to reveal the heart beneath his icy armor. Beli has had much to do with nurturing D's trust.

    So has Kagenashi.

    D tips back his head to squint up at the nigh-endless steps. "I see we yet have quite the climb before us. The mountain did not look so high, from its base...but isn't that how it always is."

    He lapses back into silence, and continues to walk, step by step.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Beli's smile turns faintly shy at that praise. Her head lowers slightly as they walk, turning her gaze down to the steps under their feet. "...I suppose you have a point."

    Her head lifts at that comment, her gaze following his up the stairs, to the next level, and to the peak above. It makes her pause her walk for a moment as thoughts settle into her mind. D's comment is a rather apt one; surely her own mountain did not seem so large to surmount when she started, but the climb was no less of a struggle. Doubtless D has felt the same way as well, in the many trials that have been set before him. Surely many other such mountains will appear in the future, but looking back on it all, to see where they are now...

    Her smile warms again. "Yes. Life has its ways of doing that, I suppose."

    She turns back to follow D again, walking beside her friend in contented, peaceful silence.