2019-09-30 - Darker Angels

Joey was laying in bed convinced of two truths:

1.) He was quite probably dying.
2.) This was all Sutton & Ruiz's fault as living proof of the adage, 'No good deed goes unpunished.'

This is why he's a criminal. It's times like these he's convinced he'll live longer. Right now though? Beach? His attempted killer du jour ( because there've been a few. looking at you Byron). But there he is in his usual fare; very broken in jeans, boots, hoodie, probably a t-shirt under there, and his motorcycle jacked on, and hood down. It's comfortable living as Byron's antithesis. The cool thing about dreams is you accept the present as truth and don't think to overthink this shit.

Just because the temperature was hot and it felt like a desert or even a frying pan here, that doesn't mean that you stop working. Even when your skin is flushed and hot with fever. Finding himself on a beach in a three piece suit, and not the types Byron might wear on a yacht or at a resort, but an all business Downtown dark gray three piece suit, doesn't surprise him overly much. Despite how he remembered feeling before wandering aimlessly across the shore, he looks like someone who took great care with his appearance, despite having felt like crap when he woke up to get dressed. His beard is neatly trimmed, the pomade in his hair keeps his slick style in place.

Nevermind that he's been wandering around like a zombie for the past week or so as it were. So if he has no idea where he is or how he got there, he's not overly surprised at this point. There were familiar faces in the distance and for reasons, he's drawn towards them.

The couch didn't make a comfortable bed and the bedroom wasn't as cool as laying in the living room with the French doors open. She must have drifted off. Or maybe not. Suddenly everything is gray. All of the gray.. and Erin doesn't seem to add much color to it. Muted olive green pants are rolled up and cuffed around mid-calf and worn with a oversized shirt that falls off one shoulder, leaving it bare. Something she'd probably lounge around in at home. It was so hot though and her cheeks were flushed and she looked miserable.

The beach wasn't familiar to her though. Since her move she lived almost immediately by the Rocky Beach of home. Erin even had a favorite rock she sat on to watch the storms roll in. Spying Alexander in his sweats, it struck her that he looked a lot like the backdrop he was standing in. There's a squint when she notices Joey looking hot as all blazes of hell with his hoodie and his jacket. Like, literally, hot. It's as she approaches that she notices Byron coming towards the group also. Confused, she doesn't break the silence. Not yet. Not until she's closer.

"You know, I read somewhere that people only started remembering dreaming in color after the advent of color television. Before that, over three quarters of those spoken to only remembered dreaming in black and white," Alexander says. His voice is scratchy, and when he turns to regard Joey, his eyes are bloodshot. "That seems odd, doesn't it? The whole world's in color. Why would little pictures projected on a tube matter?"

He blinks a couple of times when Byron and Erin resolve in his rather blurry vision. "Are any of you real?" A frown. "Suppose it doesn't matter. Tide's coming in." He looks down at his boots. The tide is, indeed, coming in. Quickly. Waves surge forward, each one grabbing at the gravel beach and trying to drag itself a little further than before. Hands made of seafoam reach out for anything that might help the ocean get a grip - shells, rocks, or even legs and pants and fancy shoes.

Joey couldn't tell people with the heat why he felt cold. Fevers are fucking weird yo. But here's Alexander postulating theory at him. He seems relaxed and casual enough. If they had differences in another life he might be entirely unaware of them all together. "I dunno man. Maybe they don't. Maybe people convince themselves that they did. One big sham like vegetarianism and other cults. Or that hypnosis stuff." His hands stay in his pockets and the soul of the toe of his boot reaches out to slap the surface of the water playing with it. Never know if you can walk on something until you try.

Byron isn't sure if he feels real anymore and that's his own thoughts coming from outside of this place. Making a vivid mental note in his mind of all those present, every single one of them familiar to him, there's some odd comfort that he takes in this. Lilith wasn't here there? And despite the spontaneity in which they appeared here on this beach, he's peering out over the rocks and sands for her, remembering part of their most recent phone conversations.

He doesn't like the question which Alexander asks, having heard it a few times before in less than idea circumstances. Perhaps it's Clayton's words that actually get him to take notice of the oddness in the area. "You've got to be kidding me." One of his own favorite lines. Joey was here. Out of everyone Joey rarely ever makes an appearance in his dreams. At least in the past. "I wouldn't--" He starts, his eyes peering out at the waves, perhaps finding something eerie about it all. But Joey is Joey, so Byron will just observe from his safe distance. Or so he'd hope it was a safe distance.

"It feels like I am real. But this also feels like the tour boat debacle. Byron was also there for that. The seagulls make me nervous." Warily eyeing them and their acid poop. "Why don't I ever dream in a hat." It's not really a question, just a muttering complaint from the brunette. The rocks kind of hurt her bare feet, but she'd been there on the couch in the comfort of her own home trying to cool off. "Next time I'm hot I'm putting a sheet over the air conditioner vent and camping out in my fort." Like she'd tried to get by with doing when she was a kid! Water splashes at her feet briefly and she steps back, but the coolness of it is almost immediate relief. Maybe that's all in her head because someone once told her that heat escapes through the head and the feet. Medically, she knew that was false. Still the water was nice, but in minimal amounts. "Is everyone okay?"

Maybe it's because in this last week Joey's been one of Byron's cornerstones for information. A far back corner but his weird ties to the other two present and Byron's own making the old pal odd but justifiable here. The tide pulls in and that's enough to pull his feet down. It's a dream so that his shoes are submerged doesn't bother him. Hands come out of his pockets and hold Second position to keep balance. Let's not think too hard on that, okay. "Yeah. Evening thing keeps trying to bury me in stuff, man." Alexander's words draw his agreement "Yeah, Erin, you could pull off a seagull hat."

The tide surges playfully, clawing its way up legs all the way up to waist height - but for most of the small group on the beach, the water is easy to break free from. Second position works for Joey quite well, and the other two are able to keep free (if not dry). The tide continues to rise, though - it feels like this beach will soon be underwater, although there's a steep shore in the other direction that one could scramble up, if one were so inclined. Or just wait a while, and they can probably swim up there.

Alexander is the exception to the athletic prowess of the group. The water grabs him with a thousand foamy hands, and drags him under the surface. At least it's cold? He doesn't seem terribly alarmed, but then, eventually his held breath will run out, and he might be alarmed then.

While he may not position himself right in the depths of where the waves wash up against the shore, Byron lingers right at the edge... which doesn't help when those greedy waves really want to get your feet wet. So those fancy Italian shoes are soon submerged in near ankle deep cold and freezing water. Well shit. While Joey might not care about what happens to his shoes in this, Byron has some concerns-- concerns that start to rise once he realizes just how difficult it is to pull his feet out from the water that now pools around him. "This water is almost like quicksand." He murmurs, ignoring this chatter about hats. "Once you're in it..." He says as he struggles to pull his leg up and out from in an attempt to move further up the sand, "It's a bitch to get out of."

In the distance, he notices that some of the others are really struggling, but those are the fools who decided they wanted to play in the water! "Get back to shore if you can!" He calls out as he tries to trudge his way over to Erin. She didn't wander off to deep like the other two, so if he can help keep someone else out of the weird water, he'll do what he can. There's a brief moment as he's headed upshore that he notices that their numbers had dwindled suddenly. Joey's.. somewhere out-- oh there he is. Erin is here... That leaves. "Damnit."

Erin's bare feet had been splashed but the coolness had felt good. And extremely cold. The second part had her stepping back from the foamy fingers. On dry ground for the moment, she hears the word quicksand. "Of course it's quicksand. Of course it is." She heard the chatter about hats but Alexander had disappeared so she couldn't respond to it. She looks concerned though even as she steps back to higher ground despite it looking as if the tide will reach there soon anyway. "Where's Alexander?" As if reading Byron's thoughts.

Joey is thoroughly unhelpful here. "Swimming." Is he alarmed? Well it's not like Alexander's run out of air. Maybe he's bitter about the gym. He sighs as they call the water names and he holds out a hand telling them conversationally, "Well if you're going to call it names you're gonna make it feel bad."

THIS... this is what he gets for watching Moana 18.000 times with his niece and falling asleep with it on. He looks at the water and keeps his arms up to wade out there, "Yo, ocean, can I ask our pal a question?" He's about hip deep and seems to be oblivious to a danger situation. It's not like it's drown anyone yet.

Yes, Byron knows that Alexander is missing and he looks as if he's about to continue to head his way up the shore even with that knowledge in mind. It almost looked like Joey was about to do the same thing. He doesn't get very far, though, pausing to turn and watch Kelly as he addresses the ocean as if it were an actual entity-- which might be the case. Or whatever was controlling it. Maybe he knows that he owes Alexander 'one' (or two) that makes him stop, even if it doesn't look as if he's happy to be doing so.

"I don't think it's working, Kelly." He calls out to his pal. And no, he doesn't look pleased by this fact at all. "Erin, you stay here or continue up the shore to safety." He doesn't quite say that he and Joey would look for Alexander, but it may be hinted at. Maybe.

Erin knows good and well how badly people can get hurt in the veil and this had all the earmarks of being the veil. "Alexander!" Calling out despite the circling birds. "Joey, it's not funny. The water, the birds, they are laughing at you." A voice of reason. "Should we separate like that though?" Despite her misgivings, she does turn to walk to higher ground where he had directed her, scrambling her way up.

Joey looks around and murmurs to Byron, "Yeah, me either." Carefully he wades through the water holding out his fingers across the top of it. Erin's words don't seem to dent his general consistent mood. "Yeah well people laughing ain't new." Looking further he admits, "Water's kinda nice." He pauses and turns to look for Alexander maybe over there. Really he's looking to bump into him with his legs maybe. Sigh. "You're not going to make us sing at you are you? Shocker: I'm bad at it."

It doesn't take long - although the shallow ocean is teeming with THINGS, and Joey is quite certain that at least one of those THINGS copped an impolite feel along the way - Joey eventually runs into a solid body by kicking it in the shoulder. Floating beneath the surface, just deep enough that it's hard to see him unless you look, is Alexander, face down and unresisting in the water. Hey, it IS cool down here.

If Byron's going to have to swim to help fish Alexander out, then he won't be needing his jacket. It would just weigh him down and restrict his movements, so he removes it and tosses it further up on the sand and out of reach of those grubby sea foam hands. The dress shirt stays on, however, as he trudges further into the depths to meet up with Joey, soaking his dark gray slacks in the process. The water was nice. A little. It helped to soothe the heatstroke he felt was coming on due to the desert-like feel of this damn beach.

Right at Joey's legs, he sees a dark shadow. That could either be good or bad. "Kelly." He calls out, gesturing to the thing with his chin as he works to close the distance between them. Hey, if it's a monster of sorts, then he could try to pull Joey to safety at least. Even on closer inspection, at first, he can't say whether it's a monstrous corpse of sorts, but he does come to realize that it's probably Alexander. "Here, let's get him out and back to shore." There's annoyance and impatience in his tone, but that's normal for him. It's nothing murderous here! He then leans forward to grab at Alexander's shoulder, uncertain whether the tide will let him go or not.

Erin furrows her brows at Joey and the dismissive sound to his words. At least that's how she interprets it. Water wasn't people. That opinion is kept to herself this time. While he does what he is doing she continues up the incline. Once at the top she looks down towards the water but doesn't see Alexander. Doing a complete circle, her gaze lands on the festivities. This dream world was odd. Maybe Alexander was over with the others making merry?

With a shrug, Erin walks towards the festival. Does she realize there could be trouble? Of course she does. Only once does she look back but she's too far over the incline to see back over it. It's then when the music stops and her steps falter. Until she turns back towards the revelers. "Damn weird. Why is everything so weird? All the time?" She keeps going, mostly in case Alexander was there but also because she was curious what part of the real world this was modeled after.

Joey might have to go back to whatever that was and get its number. He doesn't say that out loud. "Yeaaahup. I'm here." Man if Byron hasn't seen phases in his life where he's utterly lost his shit it might make someone wonder if he really gives more then maybe three shits about the world. Why is he still talking to the water?

It's okay, Ocean, I'll play with ya. Gonna need our lil buddy back tho." And he does, perhaps unwisely, reach down to lift Alexander by the back of his shirt and seat of his pants. "This is not how you become a mermaid man. Everyone knows this." As if there's a proper way??!

Byron always knew Joey was weird even as kids. Then again, despite their both growing up in Gray Harbor, Joey was more open and exposed to things far earlier than Thorne ever was, despite some of the company that the latter kept. "Looks like you showed them." Him. It. Whatever the hell the ocean was. Byron only gives Joey the slightest of glances before helping him hoist Alexander up out of the water and back towards land. When told that Alexander can't feel them, that is a comment that garners some of Thorne's attention. "Maybe the frigid water made you numb." Though he has a feeling that this feel means something other than physical touch.

And now Erin was missing. "I told her to stay on dry land. Not to wander off." Byron practically says in disgruntled huff. Once Alexander is deposited, he'll go and snatch up his jacket once again. He doesn't need it, if this is a Dream, and right now he'll assume that it is. With a heavy and annoyed sigh, he says to the others, "If you're fully recovered and don't need Kelly to give you mouth to mouth, then we better go find her." In fact, he's already heading in that direction over the ridge to where Erin may have given them the slip.

Weird was fine if it was fun right? Erin looks away again and the music ceases. When she turns back, the music syncs with her heartbeat?" Her clothing swirls and changes but it keeps her from standing out too terribly. For now she remains on the outside looking in, at the fringes of the festivities, peering through the passing people. "Hello," she greets someone who passes close by her. "Can you tell me where we are?"

Joey pulls Alexander up and holds onto him like luggage. He should probably stand him upright but history's proven that's not a great reliance so now it he carrying him by the pants back up to shore with Byron. "People are like old children, B." ... yeah Joey that's pretty much WHAT being an adult is. That's how it works in a nutshell. ToteToteTote... Trying to trudge up to teh beach he looks around. TO Byron he says, "Following you man."

The person Erin greets - a shorter man in a dark green tux with a mint waistcoat and a mask like a wide, branching tree with carved turquoise leaves cascading around the edges and hiding any hint of his actual face - speaks to her in French, which is luckily a language Erin knows. "My dear, we are at the party for the end of the world. Do enjoy yourself! There won't be another quite like it!" His voice is merry, and he laughs at his own joke, although his eyes and his smile (if he has one) are both blocked by the mask. How does he see? He waggles his fingers at her and sweeps off to join a very tall woman in an ivory dress. A blank faced servant stops by Erin's left elbow, and clears his throat. "Would madame care for a drink?" He offers a tray with an assortment of wines, from the palest to a red so dark it seems more black than anything.

Under other circumstances, Alexander would probably object vigorously to this form of toting. Or, really, any touching at all. But now he just drifts meekly along, although he does give Joey a long, thoughtful look, then says to Byron. "I don't think mouth-to-mouth would be necessary. Although I assume he knows first aid." A look back to Joey. "Do you? If not, you should. It's an important life skill." When the men crest the top of the shoreline, they can see a wide plain laid out before them. Joey and Alexander see the party, the flying pennants, the merriment, and they hear the driving music. They can also see Erin on the edge of the gathering.

Byron? Byron sees an almost empty field. The only feature of it is an old stone church in the center of the unkept grasses. It radiates a gentle golden light through its stained glass windows (what few are still remaining) and the holes in its crumbling roof.

With no odd sites to be seen, aside from the old stone church in the distance, Byron immediately heads in that direction. There's no strange party to make him to take pause in their fancy costumes and everything that may or may not have reminded him of his own plans for the Masquerade. Instead, he'll assume that Erin found her way into that church, so that's where he's headed. "I don't know why, but since I can't see her anywhere out there. My bet is that she's down there." And when he points, he could very well be pointing in the direction of a mosh pit or refreshment table. Who knows! Not Byron. "Come on, let's get her and see try to find our way out." He'll start in the direction of the church, seeing no obstacles in his way.

The mask was beautiful! "I imagine a masquerade is as good a party as any if you're going to party for the end of your world. Where is it going?" Careful for her choice of words not to include her world. As the selections make their way to her via the servant, Erin selects the dark red but doesn't drink from it. She's not going to be rude and turn the host down. "Thank you," she murmurs, caught in watching the people all dressed up.

Joey replies to Alexander, "So is not drowning in cereal. But yeah I know First Aid. Sort of a necessity." He should put Alexander down but he's in travel mode like a bunny so why stop now? He stops short of the scene. Maybe he's got a thing about ruined churches? Maybe it's a thing about fancy people. It is pretty clear either way something alerts in his head something off... ish. If he knows why it doesn't seem to show. "Erin, who are your friends?"

"I'd ask what is this place, but I'm pretty sure neither of you would know." Byron says mostly to himself even if his voice is loud enough for the other two to hear. "There better be something interesting in that church, because if it were me, I'd be waiting outside of it rather than going in. Alone." It also comes to mind that she wandered off without knowing whether they got Alexander out of the drink or not.

The empty field looked so desolate, isolated, almost lonely out here in the middle of nowhere; just as the church looks long forgotten. It's Erin's voice that he hears first, making Byron immediately turn in that direction though he sees nothing out of the ordinary and no Erin. But it sounds like she's talking to someone. Then Joey's talking to her!

His gaze wanders over the landscape, drifting back and forth with a slow shake of his head when he murmurs, "This is like something out of Poltergeist right here. Hearing voices but not.." When he turns to check in which direction Joey is looking at, that's when he notices both Kelly and Clayton begin to fade. "Shit. Was there a doorway that he'd missed?" Rather than continue on, for now, he goes to the last place in which he'd seen the pair, looking for a way out. "Kelly. Clayton. Where are you?"

The nonchalant manner of the servant offering the drinks amuses Erin and she laughs. Which may sound odd to Byron. "What is the drink made of?" Another servant with the shrimp comes by after the offer, but not terribly close. She still doesn't lose herself in the midst of the people or the mosh pit. But it intrigued her, all of the calm people celebrating the end of everything.

Hearing the others Erin looks back and smiles to see Joey and Alexander joining her. "You both look incredible! It's the party to end all parties. The one to bid farewell to the world which will be ending. I've not heard how soon yet." A smile to Alexander since he had been found. "I thought you may have somehow made your way over when I saw all these people, so I came here looking for you. Where is Byron?" Hearing him she frowns. "He must have gone on inside to explore. Should we look for him?"

Joey hears Byron call and looks to Alexander misunderstanding the last names for a single person, "Your sister's here?" Curious and looking about as comfortable as his erstwhile accidental assailant. As an afterthought he sets Alexander down. Yeeeah. Erin's compliment brings a lot of uncertainty and out of habit he runs his finers through his hair to find his hand...goopy? When does he use hair product? "End of the world?" He pauses and looks to Erin curiously, "Whose world?"

Not finding a magical doorway in the area where Joey and Alexander were last, Byron continues his search around that area. He feels the empty air before him, their voices were close. Maybe he could bump into them. The way that they were talking, however, it sounded like they were in a group. A party... But Byron hears none of that. "I was talking to you Joey KELLY." He adds emphasis to the guy's last name, sounding annoyed. To Erin's question, he turns towards her voice, "I'm here, Erin. But I don't see you. Any of you."

He starts off in that direction, following the sounds of the chatter. "I don't see any party here. In fact, there's /no one/ here right now. Just a large empty field." And that church... Their voices weren't coming from the church though, but anything can happen in Dreams. Making his way to the desolate building, he keeps to a slow and cautious pace, not wanting to miss anything if there is another doorway to be found. "There's a run down church here too." He /knows/ that that's not where Joey and Alexander disappeared into. He saw them fade away. Maybe Erin? "I'll go and take a look." Pause, "Erin, did you enter the church to get to where you are?"

The looks don't seem to bother Erin, but Alexanders confusion matches her own. As does Joey's. "I asked them that, about the end of their world and they said the world. So I'm not sure." Falling silent a moment she hears Byron. He can't see them but they can all be heard. "Byron! We can't see you but we can hear you. Don't go anywhere. I'm not in the church. We keep getting separated. Maybe we can walk back towards the rise where I came from when I left the lower area. Just don't go in the church. I never even saw a church." She frowns towards Joey and Alexander. "We all have to stay together. Let's not go in there, it looks like more confusion. Unless in there coincides with inside the church?"

"And get hit by lightening?" Joey's willing to put money on that happening. He rumbles in discontent, "Twice in one week too." Thanks, Alexander. "B, she's right we're gonna move to the church and watch-" He ponders and looks to Alexander as they walk... plod... whatever as their fancy asses move forward. Really Joey is a bit of a suave looking motherfucker when he's doing this funky impression of his twin brother. "Wait, ain't we still using it? The world I mean."

Right now, Byron is attempting to get a read on his surroundings, see if he can sense any of the trio within the vicinity. He can hear them, but were they really there? All movements have stopped and he's focused on picking up their surface thoughts, their emotions, anything that will draw his attention to exactly where they would be. If not any within his own group, then just /someone/. Was there anyone inside of the church? Could he sense someone on the horizon at the ridge where he was when Thorne first set eyes on the church? All that he gets back is nothing. Silence.

Or the silence of thoughts anyway. He could still hear their voice. Out of frustration, he calls out, "Do you want me to head to the church or not?" He heard differing responses to that one! Trying to follow their position by their voices alone leads him into a circle, so much that he'll let them wander to and fro, circle around where he stands, venture onward as if he were't even there.

This only makes him want to find out what's in the church even more. "I can't get a sense of any of you." He says, already heading towards what looks to be an abandoned building. To Alexander's questions, however, he quickly states, "It's an old stone church in the middle of a field. It's in bad shape. When I was up on the ridge, I could see the holes in the roof. Much of the stained glass is shattered. Anyway, follow my voice. If you can. I can't tell if you even know where I am on sound alone."

"Staying together, surely." Erin agrees with herself and Alexander agreeing with her. A smile to the servant who offers the tray of snacks, she shakes her head, "I couldn't possibly. Though I thank you for the offer." Taking a peek at Alexander as he quotes Revelations or something. "Armageddon? Do you mean the Rapture?" Because that's how she had learned it. There's a wary glance towards the Eastern sky. The blood reminded her too much of the brain explosion recently and she weaves through to lead the others away from the mosh pit. "Byron can you still hear us?" A frown in her voice and she says sharply. "I don't know! I don't think so. Just stay there where you are, we're trying to find you. You have to be close." A deep breath and she says all in a rush. "When I topped the rise, just down from there was a group of masquerade masked people celebrating the end of the world. I saw no church. But it's not far from the rise. Go back to where we climbed up and look down. It's really not far, try and see us from there again."

Joey yells because fuck protocol but stays within arm's reach of the other two "B THERE IS NO CHURCH." He sighs and is tired of being in teh suit. Takig a deep breath he looks around, "So the world is ending and we gotta wear a monkey suit?" His eyes squint and he asks no one in particular, "Something got way fucked up." Says the guy playing Moana with the water earlier. In a total bout of fuck it he grabs one of the drinks and drinks it.

"Of course there's no church." Byron openly grumbles, "Because from my standpoint, there is no end of the world party." Yes, his voice is tinged by agitation, but most of this is spoken wryly. "Look, I'm going in. Try to follow. If I ever lose track of any of you, if I'm surrounded by silence, I'll just hop back out." His hand on the old stone, if tests out the door to see if it's unlocked and if it is, he'll take a peek inside to give it a look. "Yes, it's a church. With bright light cascading through the stained glass. If I'm being honest, I'd rather be where you all are right now, because if the world were to end, this is a shit place to be to wait it out."

Erin is still carrying her wine around, but she watches Joey and when he doesn't fall over, she thirstily drinks hers, finally. She passes the empty glass off to another servant. "I guess we go into the tent then? I don't know. Every answer or suggestion I give seems to be the wrong one." Erin just hangs around in the middle, following whoever is leading and listening for Byron. "You're not alone Byron we're somewhere nearby. We'll find each other somehow."

Joey considers something and says loud enough, "Well that's easy. Everyone close your eyes and walk towards B complaining." Because if you are not looking you can't be looking at different things and everyone is seeing the same nothing everyone's in the same place right? Well it took the distractions away. He grabbed another drink because why not. It's the end of the fucking world. Funny, nihilism Chablis ain't that bad.

Byron had nothing against churches even if he doesn't go to church himself. Something about this one made him uneasy and it's not difficult to see why. He moves along slowly, taking in everything that he can, being cautious about it just in the case that he wasn't alone. Perhaps, that was the right thing to do, for he wasn't alone now, nor did he have an urge to venture forth towards the large throne until the thing speaks out to him, or he'll assume that he is who the being is addressing. There was no use hiding now.

In hushed tones, the others might hear him say, "They've got a throne in this church. A really sizeable one. There's someone sitting in, like... like an angel, but not. It has wings but its head keeps changing and shifting. Started out human, then its going through various animals--" Maybe Byron shouldn't have been whispering, but it's too late now. That could be the thing that draws the being's attention. Then again, the 'Angel' may have sensed his presence all along, because it's an angel thing.

Slowly stepping forward when he's addressed, Byron stops after revealing himself all without making his way to the center of the room. He'll stick to the sidelines for now. He could speak the truth and let the thing know the real reason he was here, but instead, perhaps to gauge more information from the being, Byron asks, "Tell me, what is this end of all things that you speak of?"

"I think this is all wrong." Erin says in hushed tones to Alexander. Why do people whisper when their eyes are closed? She is anyway. But she also follows the voices while keeping hold of Joey's hem of whatever it is he is wearing and Alexanders. If he pulls away she'll grab again until he gets the hint. "I don't want to lose anyone.

The voice startles her and it's all she can do not to open her eyes. She can hear Byron and the thing he talks about. "We can hear you, close. And the Angel. I don't know what to do? Should we open our eyes yet? Do you see us?"

"If it's an angel do you really want to look?" Says the man with the heavy rap sheet. He pauses and reaches out a hand flapping it blindly, "B, keep flappin your lips man." He follows trying to pin things around him but the question is odd and it's one of those questions that punches a hole through the chest. Salvation from teh end of all things. He stops and considers taht, head buzzing. "Nah. I'm... naw. Them though. Maybe?"

It brings Byron some comfort to be able to at least hear the others around him even if he can't see them. There's a moment where he'll turn in the direction where one voice is coming from to see nothing. The Angel on the throne also gets him to view another blank space somewhere near him when its attention is drawn there. Still nothing. While he may feel insignificantly small, Thorne still stands tall, his shoulders squared in his attempt to exude some form of confidence. "If you open your eyes, can you see it?" He's curious now for one of the brave to do just that and, perhaps, witness what he's witnessing now.

As to the question at hand, once the explanation is done, Byron considers, "And to seek out salvation? What would one need to do?"

"Is this what frankincense and myrrh smell like?" Erin was raised going to church with her family, all dutiful like. If this was the real and true end, she was faced with several regrets. Then the being makes a mistake.. a mistake as Erin hears it. "Child of Man? I thought we all were the children of God." At that, she opens her eyes, seeking the being that offers Salvation in such a way. "Who are you really?" Whether she can see the angel thing or not, she asks the question.

Joey falls quiet quietly and opens his eyes. He's tired. And hot and it's a huge question that causes him to try to find Byron's voice still to get them on the same plane. He looks around. Are they in the same place yet? Something disturbs him in that poking the matrix of him. It brings him to stop and look up almost afraid but he answers, "Naw. I'll take teh end. It's fine." He points to Alexander, Ern and... where he estimates or findsByron, "Tell them what it would cost. Ain't nothin free."

Byron's not sure if anyone's opened their eyes yet, so he'll call out and asks, "Are they open? Tell me what you see?" It feels rude to talk to the others in the presence of something so Holy, if that's even the right term for it. That thing was still looking down at him. However, he wanted to make sure that they were all on the same page, because they weren't appearing magically before his eyes even if the Angel could see them. "The interior of an old church? With holes in the roof. And the figure is dressed in gold. Right?" He'd asked for one of them to take a peek at least.

To the throned Angel, he then states, "And to embrace my virtue? What is that? To live the rest of my life as a good person?"

"Who are you?" Erin repeats firmer, now with her eyes open she approaches the throne if at all possible to see the flame wreathed face. "What is this salvation you offer? God made man in the image of himself. You are not my God." Watching it before responding to Byron. "Colors, a tent and a dark throne. Flame wreathed face." She stares the thing down. "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." Either she just rebuked God in His own Son's name and sealed her eternity forever. Or .. nothing happens. But she feels strongly about it either way.

Joey slides his hands back into his pockets and shakes his head and sighs. Looking to Byron he levels with him, "World's ending, bruh. There is no rest of life." He looks around and back to Byron with a nod. "Mmhmm seems to be the score." He looks to Alexander and Erin to keep them in view.

When asked if he's rejecting salvation the boxer hesitates and shrugs. Green eyes turn up to the angel he's go no fucking right to look at and nods. "Yeah I mean, by all rights I shouldn't be forgiven for the shit I done. Feels cheap to me for the people that worked hard for that shit. And I'll only do it again so, yeah I'm good. I'll go to Hell as an honest man instead of to Heaven as a hypocrite."

Fingers come up and itch his cheek. His feet stay planted and he's resigned to this even if his heart feels like it's amped up to 180.

Hearing Erin's voice from somewhere to his left, Byron turns there before casting his gaze back on the Angel to see if it would answer her. Also, now that he has a better idea of what they're dealing with or where the others are now, he nods slowly, "Yeah, far different from this, yet similar in a sense." Though, he's not quite sure, but wherever the others are seemed more like Hell than the Gates of Heaven. Not that he was standing before the Gates of Heaven either right now. When the angel responds to his inquiry, all that Byron can do is lift his shoulders, "I was hoping that we could get by if for simply trying. Successful or not."

He doesn't really say much once Erin starts chastising her Angel, interrupting his own, by rebuking it in the name of Jesus. That's not his department at all.

Though he does see the effects of it, even if her Angel wasn't the same as his. Or were they? "Was that Eri--" He's about to ask, but Alexander answers his question before he has the time to fully complete it. "Mine was sliced open across the chest with golden blood seeping out of it. Doesn't seem to care though." He'll say that much. "You got this, Erin." He'll utter for moral support, especially now that there's no chance that this thing was a real angel.. and if they still were, well, let's just hope the group didn't die today to be truly judged.

"Oh but I'm not angry. I am adamant. You are not my God. I will tell you as many times as you need to hear it. I am firm in my belief. Get thee behind me for I am a Child of the one true God." Okay Erin, laying it on a little thick, but she really was raised going to church and her grandmother had forced her to actually listen. Putting all of her Faith in it she looks at the flame wreathed face, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. You have no right to keep us here." Her voice is calm.

Joey pauses and tuuuuurns his head slowly to look at Erin eyebrow arched and shakes his head staying out of this one. "And this is the reason I never tried to ask you out." His eyes look to Alexander, eyebrow arching and looking back. Not real angels? Weeeeeell shit. He calls out, "B... tank it on your side. Like the nice people do... nice-y shit. I dunno this one's our fight man." ANd with that he smiles. He never fucking smiles and says to the angel, "A'ight. Wrath it be." He already resigned himself a sinner and with that rushes the angel to ... what? Slap it"? Pull its wings? Sill his wine!? Shake it lots or smack it? He'll figure it out when he gets there.

"B... tank it on your side."

"Tank it.. Tank it on /my/ side? Jesus." Byron throws around Christ's name like that. "I don't know what's going on on your end but my guy isn't doing-- Kelly?" What the hell is happening?? First Erin is rebuking her angel and now Joey is doing Joey Kelly things to it too. Though he can't see what's the chaos on the other side, the results are clear here. "Kelly, what are you doing?" His voice sounding more urgent when he sees his own Angel start to bleed. Drawing in a deep tense and frustrated breath, his gaze lifts to follow that oh so merciful look which his Angel gives him as it flies up into the sky.

He's already reached for the revolver that he has holstered, but he keeps it there. "Looks like you guys scared it away." He calls out, turning to the door that magically is revealed to them with some suspicion. "Looks like we may be shown the exit." Before he starts to murmur beneath his breath, "As if this were some video game..." He's wary still, attention once more drawn to where the angel disappeared to, before he starts heading door-ward. "I'm checking it out right now."

Erin doesn't back down but as the angel ascends she refrains from the very unlady like one finger salute. "That, Joey Kelly," she tells him in no uncertain terms, "Is your loss." She flashes him a lopsided smile. The door is revealed and she sort of motions towards it, but she looks concerned for both of the guys, "Are you hurt in any way? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Joey scoffs and pulls out of the way and growls, "What do you think I was fucking born to. You can't threaten me with more... of the same... when I know that's what's comin." Does he care about the door? Eeeh he's got some things on his mind. He might fight continue to chase the thing down forever really. His expression storms over and growls, "Get back here, you froofy feathered fuck!" Somewhere in teh back of his head is a familiar voice pulling him back to now like they're 14 again. Hell. His head turns and looks for the familiar. Oh... hey... his people-really-not-sorta-but-kinda. Gathering himself together there's a moment of quiet. He doesn't answer Erin, or argue her point. Quietly he looks to Alexander as he finds a thing and in the meantime just works to let the fury go.

Byron can't see Alexander's gesture where he is, but being the observant type, as he's crossing the church to reach the newly opened door, his dark eyes do catch sight of the angel with his golden staff raised. "That doesn't look good." He breathes out. "Look," He calls out to the Holy Angel, "I didn't do anything to you alright." He's scrambling for the door, making sure that he's not hit by some falling rocks in the meantime, his head shaking in disappointment, "But I swear..." There's definite ire heard there, but his words are cut off as he just about reaches his door.

Erin doesn't have to be told twice. The angels rising up and doing their thing with the blood and the moon and the rocks. "Gogogogo!" So, she'd really pissed them off. Well, she knew better next time. Now, to survive the end of the world right? Grabbing a fistful of Joey Kelly's jacket, she tugs, pushes, pulls or whatever, along with Alexander to make sure the three of them tumble through in time. Hopefully. But a door beneath the throne of the flame faced thing hell bent on destruction? Where did it lead?

Joey quite possibly only moves because he's tugged but does so at Erin's behest. He follows them down into the hole "Yeah, B, but Erin did. Move your ass, bro!" Wait is this an action adventure chase? It is now. Conflicted or not he chases them into the dark and if he can reaches out to beckon the door, the throne, anything to slide behind them to give refuge from the sky falling. "Well, there's the end of the world. That one's on us."