Cautiously, you walk the dawning - Arrival OTA

[define_belief]

She woke up on the ground, which was new. She didn't remember waking up in dreams before, but she knew she hadn't gone to sleep outside. She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around. The sun was rising and everything was a chill grey dawn. Ariadne zipped up her hoodie before pulling out her bishop totem and casually tipping it,

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[samael_falls]

Lucifer always found himself amused when new people showed up here. They always seemed so frightened and confused, and then came to understand that they were trapped here, and then there was the requisite emotional reaction. They were all so alike, so silly and predictable. They were also his only source of amusement, since he was trapped here too.

And yeah, he was still bitter about that.

This girl was a tiny thing. If she wasn't so...developed, he'd think she was still a little girl.

He approached her, his wings folded tightly to his back so as not to be immediately obvious (well, pretty immediately, they were WINGS, after all).

"Ah, fresh meat," he said with a smile that wasn't exactly friendly.

[define_belief]

Ariadne almost dropped the rock she was examining, her head jerking towards the voice. It belonged to an imposing figure, something very wrong glinting in his eyes.

"Stay where you are," she said, trying to remember everything she learned in self defense classes and in training for dream sharing missions. "My boyfriend won't like it if you get too close."

[samael_falls]

"Your boyfriend, Ariadne?" He grinned, but it was far from pleasant. "Does Arthur know that he's your boyfriend? Perhaps I should tell him, because I think he's missed the memo."

It was cute, how girls acted like that sometimes. How they thought that if he wasn't afraid of them, at least he'd be afraid of their big, tough boyfriends. He laughed again, despite himself, and let his wings unfurl themselves and ruffle a bit. He took a step closer to her.

"I'm most definitely not afraid of Arthur, my dear."

[define_belief]

"Who- Do I know you?" Ariadne asked, though she was sure she didn't. She was even more sure once his wings came into view. She clutched her rock and reminded herself that this was a dream. No matter what her totem was doing, there was no other explanation.

"Who are you?"

[samael_falls]

Lucifer smiled grimly.

"Oh, I am known by many names. But that is rather unimportant at the moment. And do not be afraid. If I wanted you dead, you would already be so."

[define_belief]

She took a step back anyway.

"OK then what do you want?" She kept her voice steady. This was a dream.

[samael_falls]

"What do I want? Darling, I already have almost everything I want."

He made a vague gesture outside the village.

"Humanity collapsing. Turning on itself like the animals they are. Soon, they'll all be gone, and the beautiful world that God created can start again without the blight, without the cancer of humanity. That's what I want."

[define_belief]

"Then why are you talking to me?" Ariadne asked. She had no idea what he was talking about or why he had wings or what the hell was going on.

[samael_falls]

"Why not?"

He stretched his wings to catch the wind, with a sly smile on his face.

[define_belief]

"What are you?" she asked, barely audible.

[samael_falls]

"Why, I'm an angel, child. What else would I be?"

[define_belief]

"But angels don't exist."

[samael_falls]

Lucifer laughed.

"Oh, but of course we do. We simply don't waste our time with humans, so you rarely see us."

[define_belief]

"But then why are you talking to me?" Ariadne decided this simply must be the weirdest vivid normal dream she's ever had.

[samael_falls]

"Nothing better to do, and my plan is already in motion, so I have very little else to occupy my time."

[define_belief]

"OK," she said warily. "What do you want to talk about?"

Filling time while she waited to wake up.