[ The morning of the execution, it takes Julie twice as long to get ready as it normally does. It's an interesting conundrum, from a fashion standpoint -- on the one hand, it is an execution, but on the other, it's the execution of someone that she definitely wants dead. She's not entirely sure what color dress that calls for.
Ultimately, when she steps through the portal from Cadens, it's in cream, with a matching birdcage veil over the top half of her face. It's also with a soft straw basket she's filled with popcorn, each serving in its own paper bag. These are distributed amongst anyone who asks for one, and she's clearly brought enough to share.
After all, what's a show without a snack?
Once the mages begin the ceremony, she watches intently, her nose wrinkling slightly as they sacrifice the sheep. Of course she knows animal sacrifice is a thing, but it's not something she's accustomed to seeing right in front of her.
(As she watches the blood flow, the grass die, she can feel the Singularity rousing in her mind. It's always there now. It didn't always used to be there. It wakes slowly, seems to be curious about what's happening. She's not sure if it's reacting to the magic or to her own twisted pleasure in seeing this woman die.)
Only at the first snap of bone in the silence does she flinch, instinctively grabbing the hand of someone next to herself. The writhing mass on the altar is suddenly cast in the dark by the wings of the bird god, and then there is only the sound of fluttering wings and the wet tearing of flesh.
The bones are offered to the Summoned. For a long moment, she seems to hesitate, like she's making a decision. (The Singularity nudges her consciousness, questions until she explains, That's who took them away from us.) Then, almost impulsively, she walks toward the altar and takes a bone. Pausing, she looks at those around her.
Her head lowers and she writes on the bone, not an arcana, but a rough symbol made of two parallel lines, both curving inward near the top to form a circle. (Do it with me, she tells the Singularity, and there is a reassuring weight in her head, encouraging.) She holds the bone in one hand, touches it over her heart, then drops it into the flame.
Before she leaves, she'll make sure anyone she knows who's still present is all right. This was a lot. ]
EXECUTION OTA
Ultimately, when she steps through the portal from Cadens, it's in cream, with a matching birdcage veil over the top half of her face. It's also with a soft straw basket she's filled with popcorn, each serving in its own paper bag. These are distributed amongst anyone who asks for one, and she's clearly brought enough to share.
After all, what's a show without a snack?
Once the mages begin the ceremony, she watches intently, her nose wrinkling slightly as they sacrifice the sheep. Of course she knows animal sacrifice is a thing, but it's not something she's accustomed to seeing right in front of her.
(As she watches the blood flow, the grass die, she can feel the Singularity rousing in her mind. It's always there now. It didn't always used to be there. It wakes slowly, seems to be curious about what's happening. She's not sure if it's reacting to the magic or to her own twisted pleasure in seeing this woman die.)
Only at the first snap of bone in the silence does she flinch, instinctively grabbing the hand of someone next to herself. The writhing mass on the altar is suddenly cast in the dark by the wings of the bird god, and then there is only the sound of fluttering wings and the wet tearing of flesh.
The bones are offered to the Summoned. For a long moment, she seems to hesitate, like she's making a decision. (The Singularity nudges her consciousness, questions until she explains, That's who took them away from us.) Then, almost impulsively, she walks toward the altar and takes a bone. Pausing, she looks at those around her.
Her head lowers and she writes on the bone, not an arcana, but a rough symbol made of two parallel lines, both curving inward near the top to form a circle. (Do it with me, she tells the Singularity, and there is a reassuring weight in her head, encouraging.) She holds the bone in one hand, touches it over her heart, then drops it into the flame.
Before she leaves, she'll make sure anyone she knows who's still present is all right. This was a lot. ]