DEATH OF A BACHELOR | OBSERVATORY RELEASE

[BASTILLEPAW]

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BASTILLEPRISONER AURELIUS

BY THE GRACE OF THE FIRE AND THE FLAMES

Thankfully, getting the generators back on after they found the damn fuses was incredibly straight forward. It only took a few minutes for the power to come back online, at which point the vaguely labeled buttons in the control room actually worked to disengage the security system. There was a low creaking shudder as the main hatch slid open to reveal the sky once more, and a clicking noise echoed throughout as the locks released. Bast stepped out of the control room and cast a brief glance upwards before exhaling a light, [b]”Fucking finally.”

[B]ASTRAL SERAPH — THE ASCENDANTS — [color=#e2e2e2]TAGS — [color=#e2e2e2]MOODBOARD — [color=#e2e2e2]PLAYLIST

[MirrorEdge]

Thea was one of the first few to venture out along with some NPCs, the fresh air almost burning the Fireball's lungs as it mixed with the stale air that the Observatory had, and pale blue optics squinted a bit at the harsh sunlight, and she ended up having to keep her eyes downwards for a minute or two until they adjusted. "Where do you think everybody is? Do you think the ones locked out left us?" No sign of them so far, and the Arabian leopard felt her claws unsheathe, not in anger, no, more to feel earth between her paws, the dew on the grass dampening her feet.

She had the strongest urge to start ripping it up, for some reason. Just to confirm it was real.

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[Margaery]

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MARGAERY MIKAELSON-FOLIE

Margaery had already been long gone by the time the Observatory had entered lockdown, somewhere far away from the Ascendants territory and hating every second of it. She hadn't expected to return only to discover Suiteheart and a handful of others, her children and the rest of her family kept away from her by whatever malfunction that initially caused all the doors to lock. It didn't help that her wife was angry at her either, leaving Margaery without her typical sources for advice - Hazel, Bastille, Cooper, and Roy. But if she was currently hearing Bast's voice, that had to mean...

Without even processing the remainder of that thought, Margaery had abandoned her seat in the shade of a tree near the Observatory to head towards its entrance, a sigh of relief spilling from parted lips the moment she saw Thea and Bast. [color=#b59693]"Oh thank goodness," She breathed, attempting to pull the latter into a hug, [color=#b59693]"Are you all okay? Are my other children okay? I'm sorry for leaving. I should never have."

[ONISION.]

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ONISION M.F.

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[div style="background-color:#806A71;width:90%; overflow: stretch;text-align: justify; font-size: 8pt;"]Air. Fresh air. Freedom.

Onision was quick to limp out, favoring his front right leg, broken from his accidental scuffle with his groupmates. He knew they would tell Margaery and Suiteheart, or he had to. His mentor had pushed his way out into the light, and Onision followed behind him, only to see Margaery's form.

"Mama?" Oni called out softly, the bags under his eyes showing just how little he had slept since he had been trapped in the observatory. But, the little brown feline managed to somehow make his way over to his mother, attempting to gently push himself against her leg, however weak the push was.
"Mama left.. She left the Observatory.. But Roy and Alexander took care of me! So did Lessa and Bastille and Versailles and the others!" Rambled the Fireball, tilting his head to the side.

That's right, he had to go to the starpool.

[W]isker

[VERSAILLESPALACE]

As the doors fall apart, so does Versailles' inhibitions. Her shackles crumble when fresh air finally dances on her tongue, falls apart completely as soon as the grass tickles the bottom of het paws. It takes only a split second for it to register, only a split second for her to process the fact that she's free from the Observatory's shadowy binds - and then she's taking off.

She runs far enough from the Ascendants before she lets the few fraying tethers of control she has left slip from her grasp.

Pain erupts from her right eye as quickly as jets of flame begin to spurt from it, arching high in the skies - they are pillars of fire, dancing in satisfaction, happy to be freed. With each second they spiral around each other, the more agony she's in yet the freer she feels, burdens being taken away from her shoulders like sandbags being plucked away by the merciful high winds.

Her eye is burning, honestly feels like its burning - flames continue to dance from it and it's a thing of beauty, but comes with a price. When, finally, the pillars weaken into nothing more than a shower of embers, vision in her right eye is restored, aching as it might be. Slowly, Versailles blinks until the ache begins to subside, until the shadows creep away from the fringes of her vision, until all is clear and her shoulders are light and her heart is beating just a little bit faster.

For a moment, she's at peace - and then she remembers where she is, who is around her, and her heterochromatic gaze sweeps around the Ascendants' paws, too afraid to meet their eyes head-on.

I THOUGHT THAT LOVE WAS A KIND OF EMPTINESS

VERSAILLESPALACE  A.

© LEXASPERATED

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0px;"]Calloused paws ache from incessant pacing along the wall. Back and forth, back and forth. Were the floors composed of dirt instead of synthetic material, Imperia would have wore a trench into the laminated tile. Being trapped inside the Observatory in almost total darkness is the worst thing that could possibly have happened to her. It did not take very long for the panic to set it. The fear of being trapped. Confined. Locked in a room with no freedom to move, to explore. It was easier, all those days before. Back when all Imperia knew were the rough stone of the cave walls. They were always cold and damp and dark. But it was better, safer, than the harassment she would face outside. Marguerite fed her countless stories of adventure and romance, nourishing her daughter's mind with the promise of a better world. A happier life.

And once she got a taste of it, Imperia knew that she could not stand to go back. That is when she left. Guided by divine intervention and the devotion of a selfless mother, the lovely she-wolf found herself at the border of the Ascendants. She never really thought about how much she hated being confined until Peri found herself trapped in a room with Moonmade. It was stressful at first, but the handsome lion has a way of getting the cleric to unwind. His laughter soothes her, his smile warms her. When the lights went out in the observatory, however, the halo was not there to comfort her. He was somewhere else, trapped in some enemy clan forced to endure Maker knows what.

It took everything Imperia had not to lose her mind. Wrought with worry for her friend and plagued by anxiety from a life she thought she left behind, it was all the silver canine could do to think about something else. Counting and recounting the herbs, checking in on the children, monitoring the food stores. Although it was only a couple of days, it felt like weeks to the young female. Her heart ached for the comfort of her stone cottage and the company of her friends.

When the doors open, stunning everyone with a barrage of brilliant golden sunlight, Peri's body moves of it's own accord. Weary limbs tremble as they spur into a gallop, dashing from the looming interior of the observatory and into the wide open space of the outdoors. Immediately, shining sterling eyes sweep across the surrounding area, desperately searching for any sign of Moonmade. What she finds, however, are the not chiseled cheekbones of her close friend, but a column of blazing fire erupting from Versaillespalace. Imperia can hardly believe eyes. Is this real? An illusion? It is difficult to tell, for the mind plays tricks when shrouded in darkness. But they are outside! They are free! So this must be real...

Imperia stares; dumbfounded. "What...what was that?" she asks. Not exactly terrified, but a little startled. There is a nuance of curiosity in her tone. Intrigue. And perhaps a touch of concern, too. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?" All thoughts of Moon have been put on the back-burner as the elegant she-wolf cautiously approaches Vera, inspecting the jaguar with the intensity of a scientist.

[tori]

Outside, oh thank god he was outside.

The fresh air stung his eyes for a moment, legs unsteady as he dragged himself along out of the Observatory with the least amount of grace, something he could say he had at least a semblance of when he wasn't so hungry and exhausted. He wasn't even able to make out the separate voices of the other freed captives, just a cloudy blur of inaudible sounds. He heard Margaery, and some spark of energy briefly lit in his chest, albeit quickly dulled once the excitement of her return, alive and well, passed through his tired soul.

He took a few steps into the grass, collapsing onto the earth and rolling around until loose blades of vegetation had gotten into his dark fur, and he let out a soft whine. His chest hurt from the rapid change in air quality, from stagnant to fresh just like that. He didn't want to get back up again his muscles burned.

♡♡♡

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]"We damn well should have left your sorry asses." says Moon, catching Thea's words as he approaches. He'd been hesitant to come running when he heard the doors opening, all too aware of his disgraced exterior, but he hadn't been able to hold back long. There's a bitterness hanging in him that this whole ordeal had happened in the first place, so the quip he makes is only half joking. He wants to give Bastille a look, just to have someone to be angry with, but there's still a miniscule part of Moon that's logical; he knows it's not his fault. "Gonna' miss that peace and quiet."

He passes Isidore on the way, and as impartial as he is to the herb stealing freak, he feels bad seeing him watch the reunions from afar. He pauses in his step, and swerves back to knock his tail against the servals shoulders. "Come meet the weird, dysfunctional family, Birch-stealer. No use being a loner." He's about to properly join the crowd and announce Isidore's presence when an abrupt explosion erupts to his left.

Versailles is literally leaking fire from her eye. It takes Moon off guard and he shuts up mid sentence, brows raised at whats happening before him. It's over just as quick as it started. Versailles looks completely humiliated; he realizes he shouldn't just stand and stare like an asshole. "You alright, V? That was some dramatic entrance. Gonna' have to teach me that, some time." He offers a small smile, a reference to his own bloodied eye, and opts to comment on her newly established appearance in the hopes she doesn't realize his. "Nice new get-up, by the way. Can't call me big guy anymore."

Another voice sounds out from behind the panther, and whatever interaction he'd been having with V is completely forgotten. His smile falls flat, and, like some alerted Jack Russel, he lifts his head to peer above the crowd, ears swiveling towards the sound. It's Imperia. For a moment, he's frozen where he is, held back by the dread of how she might react to the newly scarred lion. He's never exactly been glistening in his appearance, but this took it to a whole new level. It didn't matter how hard he'd tried to scrub the blood from his fur.

He swerves through the crowd until he finds her, and whatever emotions he's feeling only heighten when he sees how she stands, an unstable, disheveled Imperia. As much as he likes her with messed up fur, he knows this look is for all the wrong reasons. She'd probably been terrified in there. And he'd been gone. He drags himself forward on bated breath until he stands at her side, and, sheepish and hesitant, tries for a smile. "Hey," he says, because he's completely lost for words. His tail floats behind him, badly wanting to touch her shoulder or comfort her in some way. But they're not there yet. His words are pathetic when he speaks. "You okay?"

— TAGS

[MirrorEdge]

"Maybe we should lock you in for a week, with a bottle of water and a granola bar, Moon. Oh, and add somebody for you to fight, as well! Whoever kills the other gets the food and water. I'd be the other one, but I already had my turn!" Thea chirped, trotting over on a bit unsteady legs from the euphoria of being outside again. Maybe next time she'd jump at the chance to fight somebody, but for now, for perhaps the first time in her life, survival came first, and not in the form of winning a battle. She was a bit tempted just to fall over halfway, and just not move for the rest of the day. One thing was for sure, she'd be sleeping outside for a couple of nights now, just to make sure this wasn't a dream. That, and she wasn't sure she could stomach being in the Observatory again for more than a few hours.

Dsyfunctional family probably was a perfect description for the Ascendents. Who knew how the hell they managed to get along, without killing each other.

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[★ HAZEL]

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as love filled night gives way to day

The second the locks clicked open, Hazel had felt the relief rush not only through her own system but throughout the entire observatory. A breathless laugh was punched from her lungs, too ready for fresh air. It was like she could finally breathe, her chest expanding to suck in as much oxygen as possible. It was a gratifying, liberating feeling; nothing like what she had felt when she escaped her previous home. This felt like she was going home, not leaving.

It took too much effort not to join the stampede out the main entrance, every nerve buzzing with the heightened awareness of the outside world being a couple feet away. In the back of her mind, she was wary; her powers were always subdued when she was in the observatory. The cement might crack, but that wasn't nearly as often as she felt a gem struggle to push its way through the concrete. She had no idea what would happen the second she stepped paw out of the building. Not only that, but her anxiety and anticipation were peaking, desperation beginning to poke through. She needed to get out of this closet, away from the pressing darkness and suffocation.

As she found out, it wasn't quite as bad as she thought - no rumbling earthquake, no massive jolt of tectonic plates. Agate and iron pyrite trailed after the femme as she scraped dull claws against the ground and heaved in another breath, breathless with the feeling of the breeze filling her lungs and the blue sky once again in her sights. It felt so good to be free, it felt so good -

Familiar voices caught her attention, causing the girl to promptly turn on her heel, bedraggled appearance finally beginning to smooth out. The sight of a certain chocolate point had tears bubbling to the surface, joy topping her already overwhelmed mind. "Margy!" Hazel purred, ignoring the pebble of citrine that appeared under her paw as she practically bounced over to the feline. "Ut esset quo egressus es? You left a note and -" Moon's presence interrupted her overjoyed, confused ramble, and she let it, her focus switching. "Moon! You're okay!" She piped, another jolt of relief flooding her system as her last memory of the lion had been a voice filled with subdued discomfort.

Deus, it was so good to see everyone again; everybody okay and healthy and alive. Hazel was ready to switch focus again, about to search for Arion when Versailles' display derailed her train of thought. The cocoa feline turned, ready to echo Imperia's question because not only was that frightening, but she wanted to make sure the usually-shy girl was alright. It was then that Arion decided to interrupt, nearly trampling over everyone in his haste. "Cave, frater! Ne quis eius super -" She yelped, laughing as he bowled her over with a hard shove of his nose. "I know, buddy, I'm sorry - I missed you too." Hazel apologized.

HAZEL E CAELUM — STARSTRUCK GUARDIAN — MOODBOARD — PLAYLIST — TAGS

© MADI