[PQ] out with the old, in with the oldest

i can make the badguys good for a weekend

Charlie, who didn't have the most legible printing in the world (there weren't many notice-boards back in her day) had nevertheless placed a notice that read WANT TO BREAK AND SMASH THINGS? followed by a rather complicated and crude drawing of someone high-kicking? a statue? Maybe she'd hoped help would arrive out of sheer curiosity.

Anyway.

Charlie had already gone through the Temple and marked out the areas where she found remnants of herald-worship, of Voice worship, and even more recent additions that seemed to just be to Vi. With their locations marked on a map, the priestess had also gathered some tools from the military barracks (large hammers for smashing iron and some rapiers), and also something called hot chocolate, that she'd never heard of until that morning but absolutely adored.

---

A PQ to rid the Temple of everything referencing gods other than Dygra.

1. Charlie
2. Maea
3. Dantalion
4. Astaroth

.

// you've got a passion in those eyes //

Danta does arrive out of sheer curiosity.

He also arrives because he wants to high-kick(?) a statue(?), among other very interesting things, and thus he appears in the Temple doorways all bundled up but nevertheless ready to cause chaos and destruction.

"I do hope you are as flexible as your sketches," he purrs to Charlie as he steps indoors towards the firebowl and its offered warmth. Shedding scarf, gloves and coat and wearing a wine read sweater underneath, Danta lets his fingers defrost for a moment before approaching the priestess with open arms.

"Show me to your tools," he says affectionately.

Dantalion

// so aim it straight and true //

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

"Will they curse us for wrecking the statues, you think?"
Pulling her arms free from the coat, Maea was admittedly a bit worried as she gazed about the great hall, taking note of the heavy tools and the marked out idols. Even after all these years she couldn't quite shake the old loyalties, and the worry about getting on the wrong side of her father's gods.

That aside, she greeted Charlie and Danta with a smile and came over to join them, whilst rolling up her sleeves. It hadn't taken much thought to decide on lending a hand; for one she owed the priestess for her help. And for another, Maea was bored.

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

// with our one foot in the grave //

Trailing behind everyone, Astaroth has also been drawn in by the odd drawings (not that he could do much better), but he shows up ready to work regardless. Heading Maea, Astaroth hums a soft laugh and shakes his head. “If that was the case, I would have been cursed many times over.” He flashes a toothy grin to her before his dark gaze shifts toward Dantalion and Maea.

Sidling up beside the Maverick (because of course he does), Asta inclines his head toward Charlie with a grin and a bow. “Charlie, darling, so good to see you again. I am at your disposal.” Dressed down (down as in a still quite nice shirt, sleeves rolled up and unbuttoned at the top, he’s very much still put together).

Straightening up, he awaits instruction.

Astaroth

// while the other one's kicking its way right down to hell //

i can make the badguys good for a weekend

'Danta!' As excited to see him as if it had been years since they'd last met instead of just days, the ancient skipped her way across the grand Temple foyer towards her taller counterpart, arms already reaching for a hug. "And then some." The priestess confirms with a sly smile that has her blue eyes sparkling with mischief and cheer.

Glancing over her shoulder towards Maea, despite the blonde's touchy-feely personality, she instead blows the silver-haired woman a kiss that becomes a fluttering butterfly made of fire. "Just let them try." She laughs with a roll of her eyes, before beaming at Astaroth. "Looking sharp as always." Charlie purrs approvingly, her eyes raking him up and down in appreciation as much for his presence as his attire.

"If you don't have your disintegration magic back yet, feel free to shift or use some of that." Nodding over her shoulder, Charlie gestures at a crate containing large hammers and rapiers. Good for smashing and slashing. "And don't worry about making a mess. In fact, make one! " She'd say they could use it to work out any anger issues they might be harbouring, but they were ancients; if that was the case, they'd just go hunting, right?

"Lets start here. See all that?" Grimacing, Charlie pointed to a large piece of artwork which had been installed previously by Noah and Sah. It was a grand depiction of Vi on canvas that took up nearly an entire wall. Alongside were smaller images of the god as well.

---

Tear down the artwork!

.

// you've got a passion in those eyes //

"I believe it," Danta purrs, his arms folding around the petite Ancient, savouring the warmth of her body against his own. He glances up and steps back at the sound of Maea and Astaroth joining them, and honestly the prospect of destroying something - even without taking into consideration what the something is - fills him with delight.

"Oho - don't mind if I do," he trills, fully planning on using some of that; Danta is already crossing the floor to dig out a rapier and a sledge hammer. Taking both towards the large grand canvas, he first uses the sword to slash and pierce at it, before following up with the hammer to break through the canvas entirely and drag downward.

Now Vi has a big hole in him.

Oh no.

---

Danta goes for the big boy canvas!

Dantalion

// so aim it straight and true //

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

"That's reassuring," she replied in a huff of quiet laughter, sharing a smile between Asta and Charlie. She returned the blown kiss from the priestess with an awkward wave of a hand, shy yet rather pleased at the gesture.

Ducking out of the way as Danta went to town on the canvas, Maea considered her own approach. Sizing up the artwork with hands on her hips, she eventually approached it near the far end of the wall and peeked behind it to see how it was constructed. Finding plenty of tiny nails, and wood joints keeping the frame together, she put delicate fingers against them and found a strange, dark kind of satisfaction in seeing the metal begin to rust and crumble away. Unlike all the other gifts that had awakened within her, this was one she'd not tried to hone; it had frightened her more than a little, for this exact reason.

Normally, humans weren't supposed to enjoy destruction. But then, perhaps there was less human remaining in her than she had thought.

---

Maea uses Disintegration to corrode nails and fastenings around the artwork

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

// with our one foot in the grave //

He positively preens at her approving look to his attire, before he settles back on his heels to hear the direction she has – dark eyes immediately moving toward the artwork gestured to. Danta steps away to collect a sledgehammer and a rapier, and Maea utilizes what he can only assume to be magic to corrode the nails and such, which leaves him collecting his own rapier and a hammer, sidling up to the artwork beside the large one Danta’s focused on.

Lifting the rapier to the canvas in front of him, he sticks the sharp end of it in toward the top, slicing it down in a diagonal manner before he reaches in to start tearing it off the wall – utilizing the hammer when needed to get the frame broken apart.

---

Asta slices one of the canvases with a rapier and starts to tear it off the wall with the help of the hammer!

Astaroth

// while the other one's kicking its way right down to hell //

i can make the badguys good for a weekend

The sounds of destruction fill the Temple, and the ricochets of tearing canvas and disintegration metal provide their own dark music to accompany the movements of the ancients. It didn't occur to Charlie to ask who had put up the painting of Vi, whether they'd be upset about its destruction, or even to wonder about the history of old god worship in the Grounds; it was all in the past as far as the priestess was concerned.

Pausing a touch theatrically to see if any of them were about to be struck down by a bolt of lightning, Charlie laughs with delight as she spins on one toe, her tail streaking out behind her. "Ugh! It's so much better already! Who'd want that face always glaring and judging them?" Once Asta and Danta had removed the bulk of the canvas, the priestess ran her fingers against the seam of the canvas before pouring her own disintegration magic into it and reducing it to ash.

'Plenty more to go!' Charlie called, before tugging a smaller painting off the wall and whistling in Asta's direction. "Think fast!" She laughed, before tossing it toward him.

---

Lets finish off the rest of the smaller pictures!

.

// you've got a passion in those eyes //

Feeling very satisfied indeed with their efforts, Danta steps back to allow Charlie to add her finishing, destructive touches to the canvas, until nought remains but ash and dust. "I would like to start a petition to replace this with a canvas of myself. Just as large and grand, of course. I won't be judging though - just watching." Giving a crooked little bow and a grin, Danta of course is happy to start phase two of their destructive festival.

This time, dropping the rapier and hammer with a discordant clang, the Maverick rubs his hands together to produce a lick of flame, which he fires off at the smaller pictures to literally try and burn them off the wall. The Temple is made of stone after all - it's not as though it's going to catch fire. (Just ask the Infirmary, right Danta? Right?)

---

Danta burns the smaller pictures off the walls!

Dantalion

// so aim it straight and true //

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

In chunks and pieces the artwork came crashing to the ground. Maea jumped aside as a piece of the frame nearly hit her in the head; for a second she felt guilt, but then a startled laugh slipped from her, and once it began it wouldn't stop. Filled with a heady kind of elation, she abandoned the slow and ineffective magic for something more impactful.

The stack of tools Charlie had provided included a very long and sharp knife. Weighing it in hand for a moment, she threw it with practiced aim at a smaller painting - was it supposed to depict the Voice? - where it lodged with a satisfying 'thunk'. "Looks nothing like her anyway," she grinned sharply, going to retrieve the knife. There was something savage and decidedly vindictive about the way she began to cut the canvas into thin strips before tearing the frame down and setting it ablaze with a touch of fire. Satisfied that nothing remained of it, she went to repeat the process with another painting.

---

Maea uses paintings as target practice

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

// with our one foot in the grave //

It is relieving to see the stoic face disappear before their eyes, and Astaroth’s shoulders would relax if it weren’t for the work he’s doing to rid the Temple of the rest of the pieces of Vi and everything else left behind. It has been a long time since he’d defiled other god imagery, and nostalgia bleeds from him in a dark chuckle as his dark gaze flashes toward Charlie with the think fast, immediately dropping the hammer to catch the smaller painting.

A sharp toothed grin blooms brightly on his face, taking a note from Danta (and with a chuckle of agreement to Danta’s comment), he starts to take some of the fire from Dantalion to burn the canvas in his hands, first starting with burning handprints into the canvas material before spreading it further. “As much as that would be lovely, Danta, darling, I do think the largest should be of Dygra, don’t you?” He muses, flashing that same grin. “Not to say that you could not share a space on the wall with her to watch along with, of course.” And he pauses with a toothy grin toward Charlie. "And you could sit up there along with, my dear. The holy trinity." He winks, continuing to let the flames lick at his hands and the canvases before his attention drifts toward Maea's target practice.

---

Asta burns the canvas in his hands with his upgraded fire magic!

Astaroth

// while the other one's kicking its way right down to hell //

i can make the badguys good for a weekend

Danta's suggestion has the priestess immediately nodding her head. "I'll second that right here and now! Maybe in the nude?" Charlie laughs, before flashing Asta an ohh youuu! grin. "We could have pictures of everyone. Our whole family." She suggests, several shades quieter as she gazes at the wall, hands clasped against her chest. "Being an ancient makes you part of something bigger." Charlie adds a touch reverently, her tail swaying before her momentary stoicism shatters and she snags some of Danta's fire to ball up in her hands with a laugh.

"Isn't this fun?" She whispers to Maea before coaxing the fire into the shape of a serpent which she releases onto the wall. Slithering up, it coats the wooden picture frames before setting them cheerfully ablaze.

However long it takes them, there's more destruction to be had. Once the walls are clear, Charlie places her fingers in her mouth and whistles loudly. "Alright! This way!" Leading the group into another section of the temple, they'll find the remains of a statue of the Voice and one which had once been of Vi (sadly Sah's magic hadn't lasted and the statue had begun to crumble).

"Once we get rid of these, is there a sculptor in the grounds?"

---

Alright, statue demolishing!!

.

// you've got a passion in those eyes //

"Maybe in the nude," Danta agrees fiendishly with a fanged grin and a raise of his eyebrows. "Though I am not sure that counts for Dygra. I don't recall her ever wearing clothes to be able to have them painted off." Tilting his head and considering his (very important) matter for a moment, by the time he comes back to himself, Charlie is whistling for them to follow her.

And so, collecting up his hammer - it had been more fun than the rapier - and dutifully catching up with their resident priestess, the Maverick is thrilled to find that there are statues to fuck up. "Lovely," he drawls, grinning and stepping forward to swing wildly at the already crumbling statue of Vi. (It looked like an easy target, so sue him).

---

Danta is too focused on destroying the statue to think about sculptors in the Grounds!

Dantalion

// so aim it straight and true //