netherseas

[netherseas]

❍ "The climate was bearable when I first arrived, but the more the heat and humidity increase, the more I'm reminded of the state of Okhema's baths when Lord Phainon and Lord Mydei engaged in some of their more... creative competitions."

[netherseas]

@astralend

❍ "I suppose I should praise you for being able to sense my divinity..." Few did, and she had only recently ascended to the role of Demigod proper as dictated by the prophecy of her golden blood. What struck her as odd was the fact he so pointedly brought it up.

"Is there some particular reason you're curious? It holds little weight in this city, as most of my power has been sapped away."

[netherseas]

❍ She was a little surprised to receive an invitation to sit. Castorice's intention had been to just grab food to go, not wanting to feel out of place in such a social setting. Was there something about her that had caught this woman's eye? Or could it be that she was just kind hearted in general? It still made her a little happy either way.

"Are you certain? I can afford my own meal, I was here for that very reason... I may not be very exciting company, either..."

        ❝  join me  --  i'll pay for a drink or a meal, if such an offer might further entice you. ❞   she waves a hand to the seat across from herself, empty while a large part of the bar itself seemed rather busy.  expected, considering how late it was.    ❝  if you're not into conversation, that's fine.  i feel out of place sitting by myself, is all. ❞ 

        ˚ open starter : archimedes ward,  dionysus' chalice.

[netherseas]

🦋

[netherseas]

@punishercross

❍ Since the weather was nice, Castorice had taken her arts and crafts out into a local park where she had been stitching together a work in progress Boombird plushie. She had the head and most of the body finished, but she needed the fabric for the wings, which... the square of it was blown off her blanket and right into the face of a man that was using the nearby path.

An unfortunate coincidence! The woman was quick to pull herself up, though she did stumble a little bit at the end.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't think it would get this windy... I should have placed something heavier on top of it." Cas bowed apologetically, but seemed to hesitate when it came to taking the item back. Old habit.

[netherseas]

@computerqueen

❍ "I... Erm... Sorry?" Castorice's intention wasn't to be rude, but she was a little confused about the things this stranger was saying. Amphoreus' technological level meant that they had a cellphone and internet equivalent, but some things here still flew over her head.

"I apologize. Since people here come from wildly different worlds, some of the terminology may not be as commonplace."

[netherseas]

@3moreseasons

❍ If her touch of death was potent to the biologically living, then what about someone that didn't look like she should be "alive" at all? Castorice felt guilty that the thought had even crossed her mind as she spoke casually with the masked woman of ribbons.

"I hope it isn't rude of me to ask, but are you able to eat? Would you like a cookie?" The demigod clutched a small paper bag to her chest, one that she'd purchased from a local bakery.

[netherseas]

i'd like cas to meet some more people so like this for a little starter!

[netherseas]

finally posting again! I drew castorice because HSR became my fixation during finals week, and she's one of my favorites in the amphoreus cast 💜🦋

[netherseas]

❍ Castorice was no stranger to smiling, though she understood why some assumed she might be perpetually gloomy. She couldn't hide the aura of death that followed her and painted her essence in such dreary colours, even though those colours weren't literal. "Well... I believe it's possible for me to touch someone now. My curse was taken from me with the rest of my powers... I suppose I just fear the worst case scenario."

Where had she been trying to go? She'd gotten so caught up in her anxiety that she'd temporarily forgotten. "Oh! I heard there was a dessert place in this area that was fairly popular, but it was so busy that I suppose I froze up."

oh, a smile! it was certainly subtle but if she could make castorice smile just from offering to be her friend then veyle was happy. "of course i'm not concerned! it's not like you ever wanted the curse, and i can still be your friend without actually touching you anyways." it wouldn't be unlike becoming friends with all the emblems. she can't help the giddy smile that tugs at her lips.

"my name's veyle. it's nice to meet you, castorice!" she shifts on her feet. "so, where were you trying to go? i can help— i lived in hiding for a looong long time so i know how to skirt a crowd when i put my mind to it!" now, when she was distracted that was an entirely different story.

[netherseas]

❍ The woman's questions confused Castorice initially, but it made more sense when she thought about it. Based on the Trailblazer and Dan Heng's reactions, there were plenty of worlds out there that weren't bound by prophecies nor did they have gods. Amphoreus' circumstances were likely terribly foreign to someone who didn't have them explained to them. "A... story for another time, perhaps?" Because the conversation was moving along, she tabled that explanation for the time being.

With all that had happened, would her other half now be Hyacine? She knew not of that girl's ultimate fate, just that she had remained in the sky as Castorice had remained in the Nether Realm. In a way the two of them symbolized life and death within Amphoreus' present cycle.

"Free time... I've had it in lulls in the past, but there's never been a time where I've truly been "free"." Being a Chrysos Heir meant that she was always working on a project or helping the others. Even then, she often filled the free time she had with crafts. "What do you do with your free time here, Miss Ereshkigal? This city is unlike anything I've seen before, so I wouldn't even know where to start..."

"A prophecy? Ascended?" Words that only really sparked further concern and intrigue ran throughout Eresh's mind. Was there someone else before her? Being put up to the task without any other guidance couldn't have been easy. Not when it involved dealing with the dead. Souls were already finicky things but once the afterlife was added in an already touchy concept became even harder to control.

...Somehow that meant Ereshkigal had more experience. Strange but not the weirdest thing to happen here.

"That's true. And even if you spend a majority of your time in the realm of the dead the other half of the world still marches on. One cannot exist without the other, and if something goes awfully wrong we're usually the ones who solve it." The servant sighed, looking off to the side for a brief moment at the city scape around them.

"Unfortunately this place doesn't seem to follow any of those rules. Not in any way I can understand just yet. So you and I are really in the dark. But at the same time I guess we do get a little bit more free time what we're usually used to."

[netherseas]

❍ Castorice had been told similar things several times now. That death was a temporary endeavour in the city, and that you would be brought back to life if such a fate befell you. The demigod wasn't sure how she felt about a system like that. The point of death was that it was heavy, and that at the end of a long journey you could finally find eternal rest. It was only recently that she'd developed such an optimistic outlook though. Had this been prior to her ascension then she might have found more comfort in a place like this.

Because so much had already been said, there wasn't much of a reason to shy away from speaking of her curse. "It isn't so simple to unlearn a fear that has been drilled into my soul for over 1,000 years, I suppose." Anyone sharp enough could likely identify what her reservations alluded to. "But for my whole life I have not been allowed to touch another person... Else they would immediately slip through my fingers."

A curse to her, but a tool to those looking for a peaceful way to lead the sick and, tragically, the unwanted to the Nether Realm.

"I suppose... there's a part of me that worries it would be a hindrance. I'm anxious that my touch may one day return and kill again, but more than that I fear that my touch would be unwanted, regardless of how casual it might be." She'd never had to worry about how someone might react if she so much as tapped them on the shoulder, because she simply couldn't before.

She spoke with the melancholy identifiable in Servants, as if she could have fit right in amongst them. Hesitation, regret, yearning. Her words weighted with incredible burden that indulged torment upon her heart. Though Ritsuka came to mind, she knew nothing off the woman's ordeal to speculate any comparison beyond the abundance of death.

Her kindness signified all loss had been against her will — while Chaldea took action to bring down those who stood in defiance of their mission, the violet bloom's gentleness had Mashu question if she would hesitate or refuse if in the same position.

How lonesome she must have been, if she'd not the mercy of a companion. How weary her soul must have felt. And still, she found the beauty of the world, surviving within herself wholehearted goodness so many others enduring the same might not have the strength to protect. Would reaching out be a kindness or cruelty? Had she lost all hope of being anything other than a harbinger of heartache, feeling the assurance of someone who couldn't understand her true scope patronising? The Demi-Servant wanted to try — she was given a hand to take, a tiny gesture that changed so much, and couldn't bear that, if it might offer solace, the woman could be denied the same chance.

"This island, to our understanding, exists in its own space. It doesn't run along the same lines as worlds we come from, or follow rules almost universal. Calling it something of a limbo wouldn't be inaccurate, possibly — and death, for us at least, is not the end as it would outside".

[netherseas]

ah to be a pansexual demigod but it doesn't matter bc anyone you touch dies instantly normally

[netherseas]

❍ "Oh! ...No, the opposite. I have no love for death itself, but I can appreciate when it is woven into a story." Castorice was death itself in a way, but that didn't mean that she couldn't find it sad. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the man and the two discussing things in the distance.

"That isn't to say that I haven't taken lives over the course of my long life. Whether or not you would call them "murder" would be up for debate, I suppose. I had no interest nor found any joy in doing so."

He obeys the summons with little fanfare, only taking care to collect the mantle hanging off one shoulder of his elaborate suit to avoid the ground as he crouches down. Of all the people on scene, they are a pair who clearly...stick out.

❛ You like murder, then? ❜

❛ The ladies in sewing parlors feel much the same. It is a precision art. ❜

Unlike his new companion, Cecil is focused wholly on her instead of the suspects. He thinks their colors match rather fetchingly.

[netherseas]

❍ "Shh. Down here. Hide." Castorice vaguely grasped what was happening. She was in a movie of some kind? Playing the role of a detective that just so happened to be overhearing the banter between a murder suspect and a shopkeeper. Peeking out from behind a car late at night, she called over someone else that looked out of place in the old timey town.

Someone from Spirale, surely.

"I think we need to solve a murder mystery. It's a little... exciting."

[netherseas]

Don't forget.

[netherseas]

❍ "It is terrible, in many ways. But I've lived with that reality for over 1000 years." It would have been a lie to say that she didn't loathe the curse that had been placed upon her, but she understood it better now that she had ascended to the role of demigod. She knew why she had received that curse, and why it was essentially the payment for a blessing she hadn't even realized she'd been given.

Though they had only interacted briefly, in a way this girl reminded her of Hyacine. She was one of the first Chrysos Heirs to try and approach her with a heartfelt desire to understand her.

Castorice offered a smile, slight as it was with how subtly she expressed herself. "Thank you. I would love to be friends if you aren't concerned about my curse? My name is Castorice. I hail from the world of Amphoreus."

so she was somewhat right about the woman's reason for being here-- but for such a lonely and terrifying reason....

"that sounds terrible." she frowns immediately, growing a little sad at the thought of the similarities in her own isolation. "uhm… i know what it's like to be scared to interact with people because you might hurt them. i wouldn't wish that kind of loneliness on my worst enemy." fell dragon presses her hands together nervously, hoping she's saying the right things. "with that in mind... is it alright if we become friends?" she pauses, then perks up a bit. "oh, and i can help you find a safe passage if you need it!"