April 30, 2022

Melody is sitting at the table in the kitchen, humming and making a flower crown out of flowers she picked.

Fenrir appears in a puff of purple smoke. "๐‡๐ž-๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ!"

Melody jumps. "H-Hi!"

"๐€๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐›๐ž?" He asks curiously.

"My name's Melody! What's yours?" Asks the deer girl.

"๐ˆ ๐š๐ฆ ๐…๐ž๐ง๐ซ๐ข๐ซ ๐€๐ฌ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐ž๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ž๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ!" The manโ€™s grin is wide as he extends a hand out to her for a handshake.

Melody smiles back and shakes his hand. "Would you like a flower!"

"๐–๐ก๐ฒ, ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ! ๐ƒ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ฌ?"

"Lemme see!!" She looks through and finds a lilac, handing it to him and smiling.

Fenrir gently takes the flower, sniffing it. "๐ˆ๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ. ๐“๐ก๐š๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ!" He closes his eyes and smiles innocently.

Melody grins. "I'm so glad you like it! Look at this, Sorath gave it to me!" She shows him the flower crown of white roses, still perfect and fresh as though they had just been picked.

"๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ! ๐Œ๐š๐ฒ ๐ˆ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ง?" Fenrir asks, pointing to it slightly.

"My crown?" Melody asks apprehensively.

"๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ž! ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐š๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ."

"Yeah, sorry it's just... special to me," Melody puts it on. "I could make you one though!! I saw these pretty purple roses in Soraths garden and I think her flowers never wither!"

"๐“๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ž๐ง๐ฃ๐จ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ," Fenrir says, still grinning.

"I'll make you one!!" She takes the prettiest purple flower she has and gets on her tippy toes in an attempt to place it in his hair.

Fenrir bends down a bit so she could reach. โ€๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ ๐ˆ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค?"

"Amazing!!" Melody grins. She wears a rosary around her neck, well-loved and worn, it has wooden beads and a silver cross.

Fenrir stands straight again. "๐’๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐๐ข๐! ๐–๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž ๐š ๐ฆ๐š๐ ๐ข๐œ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ค?"

Melody nods. "Please!!"

"๐–๐š๐ญ๐œ๐ก ๐š๐ฌ ๐ˆ ๐ฆ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐š ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ž ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž!" Fenrir snaps his fingers and a tall, pointy-eared man appears beside him. He has shorter white hair and wears a purple and pink robe. He has orange scleras and his large, black wings take up a majority of space in the kitchen.

โ€œWOW-โ€œ Melody's eyes widen as she watches, looking at the man curiously.

Icarus looks around the room. "Hฦแ’ชแ’ชO? แ—ฏโ„ŽO แ—ฉแ–‡ฦ ฦณOแ‘Œ, แ‘•แ‘Œฦฌฦ–ฦ?" They ask, crouching down to Melodyโ€™s level.

Melody blushes โ€œMy nameโ€™s Melody!โ€ She extends a hand to him.

They take her hand, gently shaking it as their wings flutter. "ฦ–ฦฌ ฦ–แ”• แ”•O แ—ฏOแ‘Žแ—ชฦแ–‡Fแ‘Œแ’ช ฦฌO แ—ฐฦฦฦฌ ฦณOแ‘Œ, แ—ฐฦแ’ชOแ—ชฦณ! ฦ– แ—ฉแ—ฐ ฦ–แ‘•แ—ฉแ–‡แ‘Œแ”•, Oแ‘Žฦ OF Fฦแ‘Žแ–‡ฦ–แ–‡'แ”• แ—ฉแ‘ŽGฦแ’ชแ”•."

โ€œIcarus is a pretty name, I love it! You're an angel?โ€ Her eyes light up with excitement.

Icarus nods, pointing to the black halo on their head.

Melody reaches up to touch it.

It wobbles a bit before returning to its place.

Melody giggles. โ€œHave you met God? Arenโ€™t your wings and halo supposed to be white?โ€

"แ—ชฦ–FFฦแ–‡ฦแ‘Žฦฌ แ—ฉแ‘ŽGฦแ’ชแ”• โ„Žแ—ฉแฏฦ แ—ชฦ–FFฦแ–‡ฦแ‘Žฦฌ แ‘•Oแ’ชOแ–‡แ”• OF แ—ฏฦ–แ‘ŽGแ”• แ—ฉแ‘Žแ—ช โ„Žแ—ฉแ’ชOแ”•. แ—ทฦแ‘•แ—ฉแ‘Œแ”•ฦ ฦ–'แ—ฐ Fฦแ‘Žแ–‡ฦ–แ–‡'แ”• แ—ฉแ‘ŽGฦแ’ช, แ—ฐฦ–แ‘Žฦ แ—ฉแ–‡ฦ แ—ทแ’ชแ—ฉแ‘•ฦ˜! แ—ฉแ‘Žแ—ช ฦ–'แฏฦ แ—ฐฦฦฌ GOแ—ช แ‘ญแ’ชฦแ‘Žฦฌฦณ OF ฦฌฦ–แ—ฐฦแ”•. ฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ฦ'แ”• แ—ฉแ‘•ฦฌแ‘Œแ—ฉแ’ชแ’ชฦณ แ—ฐOแ–‡ฦ ฦฌโ„Žแ—ฉแ‘Ž Oแ‘Žฦ!" Icarus explains.

Melody looks confused. "No... There's only the one true God!"

"แ‘ŽO...? ฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ฦ'แ”• แ—ฉแ–‡Oแ‘Œแ‘Žแ—ช 5 OF ฦฌโ„Žฦแ—ฐ! ฦฌโ„ŽOแ‘ŒGโ„Ž ฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ฦ ฦ–แ”• Oแ‘Žฦ Oแฏฦแ–‡แ”•ฦฦแ–‡ ฦฌโ„Žแ—ฉฦฌ ฦ–แ”• แ—ฐแ‘Œแ‘•โ„Ž แ—ฐOแ–‡ฦ ฦ–แ—ฐแ‘ญOแ–‡ฦฌแ—ฉแ‘Žฦฌ ฦฌโ„Žแ—ฉแ‘Ž ฦฌโ„Žฦ Oฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ 4."

"No... the Bible says there's only one... any others are false idols." Melody furrows her brow.

Icarus sighs, standing up straight. "แ”•แ—ฏฦฦฦฌฦ–ฦ, ฦฌโ„Žฦ แ—ทฦ–แ—ทแ’ชฦ ฦณOแ‘Œ'แ–‡ฦ ฦฌแ—ฉแ’ชฦ˜ฦ–แ‘ŽG แ—ฉแ—ทOแ‘Œฦฌ ฦ–แ”•แ‘Ž'ฦฌ 100% แ—ฉแ‘•แ‘•แ‘Œแ–‡แ—ฉฦฌฦ ฦ–'แ—ฐ แ—ฉFแ–‡แ—ฉฦ–แ—ช. ฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ฦ ฦ–แ”•แ‘Ž'ฦฌ แ–‡ฦแ—ฉแ’ชแ’ชฦณ แ—ฉแ‘Žฦณ แ—ทOOฦ˜ Oแ‘Œฦฌ ฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ฦ ฦฌโ„Žแ—ฉฦฌ'แ”• GOฦฌฦฌฦแ‘Ž ฦ–ฦฌ 100% แ–‡ฦ–Gโ„Žฦฌ. แ—ฉ แ’ชOฦฌ OF ฦฌโ„Žฦ–แ‘ŽGแ”• ฦ–ฦฌ แ”•แ—ฉฦณแ”• แ—ฉแ–‡ฦ ฦฌแ–‡แ‘Œฦ, แ—ทแ‘Œฦฌ ฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ฦ แ—ฉแ–‡ฦ แ—ฉแ’ชแ”•O แ—ฉ แ’ชOฦฌ OF ฦฌโ„Žฦ–แ‘ŽGแ”• ฦฌโ„Žแ—ฉฦฌ แ—ฏฦแ–‡ฦ ฦฦ–ฦฌโ„Žฦแ–‡ แ’แ‘Œแ”•ฦฌ แ—ฉแ”•แ”•แ‘Œแ—ฐแ‘ญฦฌฦ–Oแ‘Žแ”• Oแ–‡ แ”•Oแ—ฐฦOแ‘Žฦ แ—ฏแ—ฉแ‘Žฦฌฦ–แ‘ŽG ฦฌO ฦฌฦแ’ชแ’ช แ—ฉ แ”•ฦฌOแ–‡ฦณ."

Melody seems confused. "I... I mean... O-Orpheus said that demons aren't bad and Hell isn't bad but they are in the Bible so maybe it's not all right but..." Melody looks confused and conflicted, taking off the rose crown and staring at it.

"ฦแฏฦแ‘Ž แ”•ฦฌฦ–แ’ชแ’ช, ฦ– โ„Žแ—ฉแฏฦ ฦฌO แ—ฉแ—ชแ—ฐฦ–แ–‡ฦ ฦณOแ‘Œแ–‡ แ’ชOฦณแ—ฉแ’ชฦฌฦณ ฦฌO ฦณOแ‘Œแ–‡ แ—ทฦแ’ชฦ–ฦFแ”•. ฦ–ฦฌ ฦฌแ—ฉฦ˜ฦแ”• แ—ฉ แ’ชOฦฌ OF แ‘•Oแ—ฐแ—ฐฦ–ฦฌแ—ฐฦแ‘Žฦฌ FOแ–‡ แ”•Oแ—ฐฦOแ‘Žฦ ฦฌO แ—ทฦ ฦฌโ„Žฦ–แ”• แ—ชฦแ—ฉแ—ชแ”•ฦฦฌ Oแ‘Ž แ—ฏโ„Žแ—ฉฦฌ ฦฌโ„Žฦฦณ แ—ทฦแ’ชฦ–ฦแฏฦ." Icarus says.

Melody fiddles with the crown. "It's all I've ever known..."

"แ‘•แ—ฉแ‘Ž ฦ– แ”•โ„ŽOแ—ฏ ฦณOแ‘Œ แ”•Oแ—ฐฦฦฌโ„Žฦ–แ‘ŽG, แ—ฐฦแ’ชOแ—ชฦณ?"

Melody nods and looks back up, putting the crown on.

Icarus offers a hand to Melody. "ฦ– แ—ฉแ—ฐ GOฦ–แ‘ŽG ฦฌO แ”•โ„ŽOแ—ฏ ฦณOแ‘Œ โ„Žฦแ—ฉแฏฦแ‘Ž. Oแ–‡ แ—ฉแ”• ฦ–ฦฌ'แ”• แ—ฉแ‘•ฦฌแ‘Œแ—ฉแ’ชแ’ชฦณ แ‘•แ—ฉแ’ชแ’ชฦแ—ช, แ—ฉแ–‡แ‘•แ—ฉแ—ชฦ–แ—ฉ. แ‘ŽOฦฌ แ—ฐแ—ฉแ‘Žฦณ แ‘ญฦOแ‘ญแ’ชฦ Gฦฦฌ ฦฌO แ”•ฦฦ ฦฌโ„Žฦ–แ”•."

Melody looks nervous and nods, taking his hand.

A bright purple flash of light overtakes the three of them and they disappear from the kitchen.

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