what once was lost, shall again be mine?
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
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#1
DELPHINE
Sure, the last time Delphine had visited a shrine, things had gone horribly wrong… or right, depending on your mindset. She had brought nothing to use as an offering, and her children had been the payment, her memory the curse. Today, she had gathered toys; things she couldn’t let go after her children were gone, to bring as part of an offering.

Entering the shrine, she exhaled softly and sat out the toys and the painting of Acantha, Bryony, Noah, and herself. It had been the last time the girls were seen alive, really. Well aware of how badly it could go, but willing to accept the consequences of her actions—there was nobody with her to be affected directly by her actions this time. “Ludo? I was… wondering if it’s possible to see them again, is there a way, other than my memories? This world has magic, and... I was hoping...”



Delphine has asked Ludo if she can see her children, for a way other than her memories.
What's that thing they say about a rose by any other name?
Dandelion, dandelion.
Spooky Rags


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#2
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

”You were hoping for what, sweetling?” The voice that drifts above is not warm or cold, merely curious. The offerings seem to disappear into smoke before Delphine, as though some creature has squirrelled them all away (because of course, it has). The god floats above her, a huge blanket of shadow, a porcelain mask peeping down at her from on high. Ludo does not like Halo very much and it shows, but Delphine has done well this time at least.

”There is the Festival of Lights every Leafchange. You may hang your lantern then. You may see them again if your lantern is good enough.” It seems puzzled, as if she has not considered this. True, Ludo does appear as loved ones to trick or tempt (or occasionally comfort) - but why this time, when the woman before him will always remember her children with such clarity?

Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
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#3
DELPHINE
Delphine watched the god, studying it as it spoke. She considered her words carefully. "But I would like to see them, more often than the festival. My memories are... just that, of the past. I appreciate them," Most of the time she did. There had been times that remembering them so clearly hurt. "But... Memories are not the same as having them with me."

The woman chewed her lip, considering what she had to offer as payment, shifting her weight. She remembered what she had told Noah, that she wasn't sure she wanted any more children and decided it couldn't hurt to offer. "Ludo? Is there a way to give my fertility, my womb up, to get them back? I don't think I want children unless it's my twins."
What's that thing they say about a rose by any other name?
Dandelion, dandelion.
Spooky Rags


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#4
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

The mask remains emotionless, which is not so surprising given that it is a mask - Ludo watches Delphine, her expressions, her questions, her pleas... her bargain. And suddenly it is close, nose to nose with her almost. ”When you last appeared to me, you wished for your children to be gone,” it says, its voice seeming to echo all around. ”And now you come wishing for them to return?” It tuts at her, a rag snaking out to tilt her head up.

”You have your memories, more clear than most could ever hope for. But you still want more.” The fabric of Ludo’s rags seems to shiver, as if it is bristling, and it withdraws away from her again. ”The answer is no. There is no way to reverse what you have done. Your children are dead and buried and gone as per your request. That is the end of it.”

Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#5
DELPHINE
Delphine stared, wide-eyed when the god was nearly nose to nose. It's words, were an echo, it's touch strange. She waited until it was done speaking; done telling her no. Delphine understood that she had upset the god—or at least, that’s how she was taking it.

Quietly, after considering how she should respond, she spoke up: “I’m thankful for my memories—” Perhaps not thankful enough, pleading with a god to bring the children she lost, back to her, when it was her fault they were gone in the first place.

“—but I didn’t mean to give them to you. We… had a misunderstanding, near the end. I was choosing to lose my memories, not my babies.” Which was the truth, but did not make it any easier to acknowledge, that she had to think about what was worth more.

Memories or her children.

It was important, to her, that the god understood. She hadn't meant to give up her babies, not in the end.
What's that thing they say about a rose by any other name?
Dandelion, dandelion.
Spooky Rags


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#6
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

”But that is not what you said,” Ludo hums, swirling about the shrine like it is made of smoke. ”That is not what was in your heart,” it continues, though whether or not that is true is another matter. Ludo has never claimed not to trick or to mislead. And it seems to be considering something now, the mask as blank as ever but appearing puzzled, somehow.

”It is not possible to bring them back,” it murmurs. ”Why has it taken so long for you to ask? Why did you bury them in a cave, if you thought they might be returned to you?” It tilts its head. ”You are deluded, sweetling. You act on whims, as willing to ask for the impossible as you are to do the unthinkable.”

Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
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Posts: 402 | Total: 840
MP: 655
#7
DELPHINE
Delphine watched the god, listening as it stated her heart thought different. Her features drift, aimlessly as she tracked the god, confusion on her face. When it confirmed there was no way to bring them back, she chewed her lip.

"I was afraid? Afraid that maybe they would... come back and I would still be the same person, because I don't think they liked me." She paused, when asked why she buried them in a cave.

"It was... home? I didn't know where else to put them," she admitted, quietly. The cave had been the only home the girls' knew, because isolation had been their only friend.

When Ludo stated that she is deluded, her lips twitch into a small frown, and she inquired, honestly, "Is it wrong to be a dreamer? I've always liked feeling like I'm flying, while my feet are on the ground. Though I think it'd be fun to really fly," she added, off-topic momentarily. Before Noah, Delphine searched for that feeling with drugs. She had not yet found that high without the drugs but... she had not stopped looking. She had believed that... maybe her children could give her that high.

After a second, she reiterated: "So there's no way to bring them back." It isn't a question, but a statement, an attempt to believe what the herald is saying. A brief pause, and she fixed her gaze on the mask in the mess of rags: "So what can you do?"
What's that thing they say about a rose by any other name?
Dandelion, dandelion.
Spooky Rags


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#8
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

Ludo watches Delphine as she meanders through her own reasons, her own justifications, as she rambles and explains away the deaths of her children. It is needless, of course - the god knows her heart inside and out, open as a book, and it responded only at her question. Something about Ludo sharpens then, as if Delphine has just made a serious faux pas.

So what can you do?

”You come here and you demand things, sweetling. You come here and demand, and you pout when the world does not bend to your whims. What can I do?” It surges forward, seeming to fill the space all around them, the eyeholes of its mask stretching into yawning blackness. ”For you? Absolutely nothing. Perhaps you ought to think about what you can do for others, for once.”

Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
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#9
DELPHINE
Delphine's gaze wandered the darkness of the mask as the god fills the space around them, hazel eyes reveal something other than curiosity--not quiet fear, but certainly closer to fear than anything else; a jumble of awe, respect and a hint of fear. "For others?" Her head tilted, and she drifted into silence before she held her hands up. "I'm a healer. I do a lot for others... But I used to do more," she admitted, quietly. Somewhere in the back of her mind, before Caido, before Bellamy, she remembered a girl that put everyone before herself.

"I came to... demand things of you, twice now. But I've never asked... can I do anything for you?" There's no apology on her lips, nor in her eyes, but the question is sincere.
What's that thing they say about a rose by any other name?
Dandelion, dandelion.
Spooky Rags


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#10
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

”You are a selfish healer,” Ludo confirms, as if it has been watching her from the moment she first took a breath of air up until this point. It hasn’t, of course, but in only two visits to a shrine, it has the measure of her. ”Unapologetically selfish. Uncaring of the damage you do, or the wreckage you leave in your wake.” Is it Ludo’s opinion? Delphine’s opinion of herself? A lie?

At the sudden turnabout it bobs back a little, mask tilting, suspicious and flapping a rag at her in annoyance. ”Not particularly, sweetling. You are a healer, as you say. You have no business with a god of death.” Other than to wish away her children. ”I have no use for those who do Vi’s work.”

Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
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#11
DELPHINE
Delphine listened, as Ludo confirmed that she was selfish, as if it has known her since she was first born. Had anyone known the path that the kind-hearted, selfless little girl would take to grow into such a woman?

When Ludo flapped a rag at her, she shrugged, "Thought I'd offer." She glanced back to the entrance of the shrine, humming, "Thank you for answering. Even if it isn't the answer I wanted to hear." Like the last time she had seen Ludo, it had given her advice, advice that she'd taken to heart and learned to use.

This time, Ludo's given her a personality assesment, and ideas.
What's that thing they say about a rose by any other name?
Dandelion, dandelion.
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#12
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

”Thank you for asking, even if it needed to be forced out of you.” Ludo says, surging up as she turns to leave and bobbing to hover back above the shrine, a black mass of raggedy ends, a swarm of darkness with a porcelain mask living in its centre. ”Good day, sweetling.” Whether it is a good day remains to be seen, for Delphine. Whatever she does with the advice she is given is on her own terms. And if it endears her more to the ragged deity by following it? Well, we’ll have to wait and see.

~FIN



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