[God Quest] call us the dawn

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

Everything was completed and as far as the Flood knew, everything was right in the world for him and his relationship with Hotaru specifically. So much so that he arrives to the shrine, intending to activate it with the prayer he gives amongst the shrubbery for their nature’s aspect, along with the way the fountain itself almost has a phallic look to it if you squint enough. A basket with a few peaches are set right in the center as he clears his voice and looks around the shrine that he’d worked to build, before he aims skyward.

It's an overcast day, the chill pouring in the closer to Deepfrost they get, and Sunjata’s bundled up a little with a thick jacket and a little scarf. The shrine harbors some amount of warmth with the flame within the metal and partial glass encasing being a beacon, like a lighthouse, for anyone passing through Mourn to come and visit.

“Frey, I have finished the shrine. I hope it is to your liking.” He calls out to his deity, excited to show it off.

---

Turning in the shrine building quest!

• Decide where it will go: Mourn
  
• Consecrate the ground in a way Sex Frey would approve of
  ― play me like a violin (Threesome on the grounds of the Shrine)
  
• Consecrate the ground in a way Nature Frey would approve of
  ― (SE) nights of reckless glory (Planted a bunch of shrubs, trees, and flowers in a small little sectioned off garden around where the shrine will go).
  
• Gather earth, wind, fire, and water from the four quadrants of Caido
  ― {se} knee deep in forest rivers Earth (Greatwood)
  ― forgive my northern attitude Wind (Stormbreak)
  ― (SE) what about you? Fire (Climb)
  ― One foot in sea and one on shore Water (Torchline)
  
• In a PQ, build the shrine however you'd like incorporating the 4 elements.
  ― {PQ} bridges built for better days
  Water in the fountain that acts as the shrine, topped with the fire from the climb as a little beacon – made in a way to hopefully keep it from burning out – windchimes surrounding it where the wind had been released, and earth used along the little thin rivers outside of the fountain that curve around where the plants grow to utilize the nutrients of it.
  

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

"It's a bit niply out, wouldn't you say?" Frey's voice is as smooth as it is rough, not unlike the lovers Sunjata has known in the past. The fire from the climb is suddenly engorged as if someone has blown softly as it, and as it swells, so too does the heat and light it gives off. "I think that's better, mm?"

Appearing somewhere behind Sunjata, for all the assumptions about the deity, consent was still paramount for it even now, and whether or not the Flood would choose to turn was entirely up to him. Even so, he'd feel the deity's presence as much as their approval.

The grasses where bodies had writhed whispered with phantom moans of pleasure, and, in response, the flowers nearby stretched and sighed their eagerness.

"This is very good."

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

He can sense their presence as soon as they arrive – settled behind him and giving him the option to either look or not, something he’s always immensely grateful for. It gives him the few moments to prepare, especially as he watches Frey work their magic, humming a soft little laugh in agreement. It was chilly – but he was always fond of this season. It was his birthday and blackberries were in abundance – his favorites.

The flame roars to life to never go out and the warmth is immensely comforting as he turns now that he’s prepared and settles his grey gaze onto Frey, lips twisted in a gentle smile. “Much better. I’m glad.” He can’t help the way his smile seems to grow, always pleased with receiving the approval of his deity, the way he feels as though he can have a true conversation with them as opposed to his days with Safrin, watching every other word.

“Hotaru told me you made her one of yours as well. It’s quite possibly the best news I’ve heard all season.” The Flood says softly with a gentle laugh, scanning Frey’s face and spotting the combination of Nate and Lusea and Hotaru, all blended into one seamlessly. Her being their demigod too opens her up for that prospect of immortality, and with it, the disappearance of Sunjata’s biggest fear. He feels free and open, and while a large part of that is because of Hotaru becoming a demigod, there is that violet underlining of comfort in the face of all of the Family drama that seems to not weigh on his mind at all.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

For Sunjata if perhaps with no one, the amalgam of Frey's features is so equisitiely multifaceted as to be confusing. Here, the slice of a cheekbone made sharp by wit and cigarettes, there, a curve begging for strong hands. Their eyes glitter with colour that shifts through fields of green and seas of blue, but always they hold affection and approval for the man before them.

"Well I would have hoped she would have." They laugh. "She did have one tiny request to make when it came to her ascension." Stretching out a hand, they place it upon the left side of Sunjata's chest. "She had no intention of ruining what you two have for the allure of power, a trait I find most intoxicating in a partner." Tapping their fingers softly, Sunjata will feel the beating of his heart reverberate through his body like a melody played upon his soul.

"Your bodies might be mine, but she asked that your heart ever remain hers. Is that a vow you would make as well?"

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

The Flood can’t help the soft little laugh that leaves him as Frey’s own fills the warm air. He remains still as they reach forward and rest their hand on the left side of his chest, where his heart beats comfortably beneath the touch, his steel gaze focusing on his god as his scarred brow lifts. One tiny request?

His heart seems to beat differently — not harder with the gentle tapping from Frey, but more as if he can feel it along his bones. It’s a unique and comfortable sensation in the face of Frey and over the subject, Sunjata’s smile shifts a bit crooked, his cheeks lightly warm and flushed from the heat and the subject before he dips his head a little, immediately without zero qualms.

“Of course.” He murmurs, before his chin lifts and he presses in a little against the hand Frey keeps at his chest, as if to prove his point. “I have vowed not to make the mistakes I made previously with her and I fully intend to keep my promises. My heart is hers.” But his body, he supposes now, is for whatever Frey wishes of him, (and perhaps whatever the violet thread running through his mind wishes of him).

“What must I do?” Is it something Frey can fix and do, or is it something he must venture out for? Placing his heart in a proverbial bottle to protect for her (not unlike Davy Jones)?

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

"Nothing much." The herald whispers. Their thumb smooths over where the beginnings of fire have been etched onto his skin before their hand plunges through his tanned skin. The Flood will feel a moment of weightlessness as his heart is wrenched from his body: Not his real heart of course, not the one that kept his blood racing around his impressive body, but the one which had always caused such a fuss. The one that never seemed to know what it wanted until it was too late.

Pulling out a swirling ball of light, Frey looks at it for a moment before grinning. "Upon this you shall write your name." They murmur, before holding it out for Sunjata to take. It will feel like nothing at all while simultaneously reverberating its monumental purpose.

Sunjata knew better than most what it meant to mark one's heart with the name of another. Only this time with a god to bear witness, the effects would be much stronger. "Mark it, and I shall...help you keep your vow. Should this, your heart, ever begin to wander, you will be swiftly reminded to remain on track."

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

There is such stark difference between offering his heart up on a platter to Frey versus Safrin, one that is intimately made aware when the sensual sound of their voice says nothing much. So he watches, awaiting the answer before their scarred hand touches his chest and seems to go through it. His body feels tingly, a weightlessness overcoming him for a moment as he gasps a little sound.

He finally feels like he can control his arms again a second later, when the ball of light is offered out and he takes it, preparing to do exactly what Frey asks of him. But there’s a small amount of hesitation there, not wishing to interrupt the explanation. And gods, if only he’d had something like this before, perhaps things might have ended up differently for the Flood.

But, you live and you learn, and with it the Flood takes a deep breath, leaning in to start to sign his name in his regal handwriting (a meticulous craft he’d learned in Korofi). “Like that?” He asks softly, lifting his steel gaze to search Frey’s face, seeing the bits and pieces of each and every person he’d loved as he settles back on his heels after writing his name.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?