Open ♔ Within your heart, within pure amore

[priforprince]

Who: Hibiki & you (prompts for Apollo & Nekhbet's temples)
When: October 6
Where: The Far Shore, Central District; Near Shore, select cinemas
What: Hibiki's temple has finally moved where it belongs (?). She enjoys this, then steels herself for a Mighty Ordeal. (Also featuring HIBIKI IN A MOVIE.)

[ I. - Central District ]

If you live, or otherwise had business in, the Central District, you'll notice there is a new temple. It's a giant white-and-purple castle with a gold statue of Shikyoin Hibiki, current Apollo and CEO of CelePara Talent Agency, on either side of its impressive (and unlocked) doors.

Explore within and you just might find the master of the house doing the same. There are so many new touches to appreciate! Like the magnolia trees outside, or the lake in the backyard.

Or the pirate ship floating in the lake.



Yeah, Hibiki's probably on the pirate ship. Having tea. Like this is normal.

Her primary reaction to the move, you see, is it's about time. ]

[ II. - Near Shore Movie Theater ]



[ Hibiki has come to see her own film in this theater. It doesn't seem to have been reviewed many places, and the interview Tsuzuki had helped with never ended up getting published, which was strange. But the film, at least, has been released.

She's sitting in the center of the theater, in the Best seat in the house. The movie itself.......does not deserve to be associated with the word "best". In any way. It's a formulaic, poorly-shot Western.

You would not be able to tell this from the look on its star's face as she watches it. ]

[ III. - Outside Nekhbet's Temple ]

Gulp.

[ Hibiki is standing outside Shun's temple, a bouquet of crimson-red roses held in one hand, a box of Prench French sweets in the other, and a trickle of sweat winding its way down the back of her million-pollar neck. She'd gone to her film as fortification after making her CelePara victory announcement, and now the time has come to congratulate the victor in person - while also paying a housewarming call on her new neighbor. Such personal touches are her style.

Except Chinatsu is. Mad. At her. And also living. With. Kurosaki Shun.

This is a trial. It must be. A trial from the Heavens to prove her worth as a (future) God of Fortune. Her fate, as someone who is just too perfect to live. A dramatic development to make her inevitable triumph more exciting.

She can do this. She must do this.

She must enter

where the vultures

live.



Taking a deep breath, Hibiki steps onto Shun's property. ]

Comments

iii

[revolutionfalcon]

[Normally, Hibiki might at least have the luck of getting closer to the front door before getting set upon by vultures, but it happens to be a Thursday, and happens to be getting close to the time of afternoon Shun's expecting his regular visitor. So he's outside feeding the vultures, and despite his temple ground being fairly large, it's hard to misidentify the extremely purple figure approaching.

He's at least not in a particularly bad mood this time, but his previous experiences with Hibiki are enough to say firmly he doesn't want her anywhere near his temple. So after the vultures finish with the last piece of raw meat he threw out for them, he forgoes the next part of the feeding for the moment to make a commanding gesture in Hibiki's direction.

All at once, the twenty or so vultures rise up and surge towards Hibiki. They're not poised to do actual beak or claw damage this time, just ram or possibly tangle said pointy bits in her hair if they get close enough. And possibly moult on her.]

1/3

[priforprince]

[ --ALREADY?! ]

[priforprince]

DON'T COOOOME!

[ THIS SHIELD WILL SAVE HER ]

3/3

[priforprince]

[ -- except, no, this isn't what she came here to do!!! If she flees before she even makes it to where Chinatsu awaits, her trial will be for naught!

Revolution requires sacrifice!!

Hibiki hunches behind her shield, extremely aware of how this only protects one side of her body, and presses onward, squinting against the onslaught.

GENIUSES...TURN...THE IMPOSSIBLE....POSSIBLE.

She is taking this one effort-laden, flinching step at a time. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[The vultures are also very aware of the shield only protecting one side, and many of them swoop out only to curve back in and buffet Hibiki's sides with their wings, or skim overhead and snare at her hair before coming back around to snatch talons at the back of her clothing. Keba, ever the most loyal, is outright aiming to land on Hibiki's back and pick at her hair with her beak.

This may or may not also be her way of trying to requisition some affection while she's here, but then, there's no guarantee she wouldn't snap at fingers in this situation anyway.

However, if there's one thing Shun might offer his attention to, it's a show of determination. It seems like Hibiki's actually here for a reason if she's willing to try tanking the vultures, so while he's definitely not going to make things any easier for her, he is at least going to observe to see how far she gets. Who knows, he might give her the time of day if she makes it over.]

[priforprince]

[ Keba is a good birb.

Even without full use of beaks or talons, Hibiki hunches, blue in the face, behind her shield. She can't. At this rate, the racket of wings all around her will -

The bouquet of roses rustles. A single petal falls in Hibiki's mind. Ripples spread.

....No. Not congratulating Chinatsu personally would not be her Style. Not greeting her neighbors, regardless of who they may be, would also not be her Style. She is Shikyoin Hibiki. And when she commits herself to something, she triumphs!

"Triumph" in this case involves being a shivery, twitchy mess behind a shield, nearly doubled over and looking ill, but taking step by slow agonizing step forward anyway.

Just because she's moving straight ahead doesn't mean she doesn't flinch every time a vulture makes contact, though. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[And Shun is definitely not helping in that triumph in any way. If she wants to talk to anyone here, she's going to have to make it the whole, agonising way across his temple grounds to where Shun is standing by the garden. Which, incidentally, is slightly further away from where Hibiki came in than his front door.

Keba is just going to enjoy her new perch on Hibiki's shoulders and continue messing her hair up while the other vultures continue in what vaguely resembles a feathery whirlwind at this point, swooping around her and making every step as difficult as posssible.

...And then one of them swoops in to land on the top edge of the shield. Apparently that might not have been such a great idea.]

PRI-NUT GALLERY FOR VULTURE HELL

[priforprince]

[[ Want to watch Hibiki attempt to cross Shun's lawn while being harassed by ~20 vultures? PILE IN HERE.

Thread amongst yourselves, take bets, whatever. If you can think of a reason for your character to be near Shun's temple this afternoon, they can bear witness to this Monumental Event.

Just don't expect Hibiki to talk about it ever again. ]]

[lostinshadows]

[Why is Lavi here?

It's not that unusual for him to occasionally pay a visit to Shun, sometimes helping the god out with more sign language, but the moment he sees Hibiki--

Well, surely nothing can go wrong, right? Apparently not since the moment the god steps foot onto Shun's temple, the vultures all simultaneously turn to look at her, and Lavi decides to stay back, interested in watching how this'll end up turning out to be.

He wishes he has snacks for this.]

[papillonprincess]

I heard there was something about vultures and came to see if I could be of any help but...

[ She offers him a stick of strawberry pocky from the box she's carrying. Go figure she'd see someone familiar and decide to come over. Heck, at least she isn't alone in witnessing this. ]

I'm sure our dear Apollo can sort this out for herself.

[justclaws]

[On the one hand: a friend is in trouble.

[On the other, oh, that is quite a lot of angry birds.

[It is simple curiosity that has brought Kija here - local geography becomes something of a cutting-edge proposition when entire neighborhoods can and do appear and vanish overnight, and do so on a regular basis. He has been drawn to Shun's temple in particular by the canals, the lotus-blossom. He is not expecting to run into Hibiki. Or two dozen extremely angry vultures.

[Kija decides he will step back a bit.]

Hibiki?

[Is there any way I can be of assistance that does not involve vultures?]

[priforprince]

[ No! No, there is not!

In fact, Hibiki does not even appear to have heard Kija. That is how very focused she is on her noble quest to cross her neighbor's lawn without being harassed to death or, worse, distraction by a wake of trollish vultures.

Look at the noble furrows in her brow. Behold, the courageous pale pallor of her skin. Heed the grunts of exertion and fear issuing forth from her pillar-like throat.

Hibiki is not having a good time. ]

iii

[blizzardrock]

...Prince?

[A pause, as his brain creaks into gear.]

—Ah, sorry, habit. [He has learned her name in the interim, after all.]

[And also he's passed by the new temple on his way back.] You're...Apollo, right? Your temple moved, too?

[priforprince]

You...?

[ She knows who you are, just. Huh.

Of all the people she expected to see on this expedition, you were not one of them. (And if Shun has multiple shinki, she didn't bring enough dessert. How dare he.) ] You live here, as well?

[ Vague on purpose. Perhaps you merely reside in the neighborhood, at some temple that is not infested by vultures, that does not contain a young lady currently angry at Hibiki for reasons she absolutely cannot begin to fathom. ]

[blizzardrock]

Yeah.

[He starts to step onto the temple grounds.] Your name is Hibiki, righ—

[All the vultures in sight swivel toward them. ...Which is weird; he doesn’t like them much but they never bother him when he goes in and out.]

...You’re not planning to do anything to Shun, are you?

1/2

[priforprince]

Hrrrrk.

[ Hibiki is busy looking at the vultures and going blue in the face. She's got such a bad case of the shivers, the entire outline of her stiffened body is wobbly. ]

2/2

[priforprince]

[ But then she's exhaling, touching her bangs, posing a bit. It makes her feel better. ] Just a social call.

[ She's fine, now. Look how fine she is. Amazing. Fantastic.

No one has ever been more fine than Shikyoin Hibiki. ]

I

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein had heard about Apollo's temple being moved and wanted to do a little house warming thing for Hibiki, but after seeing the pirate ship just now magically here there were some questions that needed to be asked. ]

Is this ship fully functional?

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki is on deck, lounging on a truly unnecessarily-large couch. She is enjoying a cup of Alan's special Hibiki blend of tea, as this is an Exceptional Occasion. ]

It lacks rocket boosters.

[ Because pirate ships tend to have those. Absolutely. ]

[alchemists]

Why would it need rocket boosters if it's in water, the energy output would just create waves and other issues instead of moving the ship efficiently.

is that one of the anthology icons? they turned out great!

[priforprince]

If it had rocket boosters, it could fly.

[ She says this calmly, and patiently, as if it's obvious. Looking pensively into her tea, as if she somewhat feels the lack. ]

POST-VULTURE HELL SULKYOIN BONUS PROMPT

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki, as mentioned in her exit from Shun's temple, doesn't make it all the way back to Apollo's. Her panic only sets her destination as "away from Shun's temple" when she teleports, and therefore she ends up plunking down on some other street in the Central District.

She staggers a few paces, holding a hand to her heart as she waits for it to stop pounding. She looks down. She notices she's still holding the bouquet of red roses. ]

Ngh!

[ Her face contorts in rage and she rips into it, scattering petals everywhere. She doesn't have a word for this hot, painful pressure in her chest, or an explanation, but it hurts, and she hates it, and it's all the - stupid fault - if Chinatsu had just gone with genre and accepted - stupid - stupid -

She tosses it away when she's done. But the sight of the bouquet she'd protected from the vultures scattered and torn and crumpled deflates her, and she sinks down to sit on the sidewalk, the shadow of a nearby tree crossing her body and casting it half in shade. She sits with her hands propped on her knees, staring out at nothing.

She grabs a rose and starts shredding it more slowly and deliberately, one petal at a time, because it's something to focus on.

And this is what she'll be doing if anyone goes looking for her.

Or was out on a walk in the Central District this late afternoon. Chances of getting her to talk about her reasons, though, are nonexistent. She doesn't understand them, herself. ]

[papillonprincess]

[ What sort of fri... ally would she be if she didn't come to you in a time of Crisis?

While she HAD been watching the fracas with the vultures from a safe distance off, she decided it would be best to leave Hibiki to deal with it. Surely the prince had business if she was willing to brave the burds.

And really... seeing her look so dejected...

With that, Hime fixes her skirt and sits herself down on the sidewalk right next to her, the smallest smile offered just as a bit of comfort, much good may it do her. ]

Of all the places to see you... this is probably the place I'd least expected.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki tears off another petal, not looking over. She closes her hand around it, then opens her fingers. The petal drops to the street.

But she doesn't order Hime away. She doesn't really do anything to acknowledge her presence at all. She's too busy feeling - whatever all this painful mess is that she's feeling - for that. ]

[papillonprincess]

[ There's a soft hum of thought there, her head tilting slightly as she moves to get a better look at the other's face.

But that only lasts a moment before she folds her legs beneath herself, her hands on her lap. ]

You're both fretting and tormenting a rose. It's clear something's bothering you..