<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ca/80/e1/ca80e14d974ba257a040889cd05602df.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>NAME:</strong> Kyless (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=322870.msg15501371#msg15501371)<br/><strong>DAY:</strong> June 15th, 2021 | 9:00 AM <br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong> SOPHE Headquarters, Kyless' Cell (Technically) | The Garden of The Nosthervim (Illusionary)<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong> Doctor Toshiro, the Observant Human Gargoyle Doctor, and Marceline <br/><strong>MENTIONING:</strong> Doctor Toshiro's Human Superior, the One the Humans All Call Oei<br/><strong>EXTRA:</strong> Kyless is visible, and still <em>jingling</em>.<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong> Her bells, and her usual, Mayan-like clothes.</span><br/><hr/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><em>Jingle</em>, <em>jingle</em>. The string of golden bells on each of her curled horns rattled as Kyless nodded, hands still folded behind her back, <em>patiently</em>. <em>Yes.</em> She did know, very well, <em>too</em> well, that her cell, her cage, could put her to sleep, regardless of human time. <em>But if sleep was not within the silver case, what kind of a thing did this scared, cautious but creative human bring?</em> Kyless’ bright golden eyes widened even more as Toshiro opened the shiny box, gazing over what the human had made with a distinct, playful wonder. She had made a not-real Garden of the Nosthervim, but Toshiro had made some <em>thing</em> for her too. Another genuine smile tugged at the dark blue corners of her lips as the giant mushrooms weaved and shifted behind her. “Humans do not have magic. But you are the first one to gift me jewelry in a very long time, Doctor Toshiro.”<br/><br/>Though the bracelet was perhaps, a little <em>too</em> sparkly. It blinked back at Kyless, in its silver box, with red and green eyes, as if it were alive somehow. There were stories - and sometimes consequences - for giving demons gifts, of course. But this gift was part of the game she was playing with the Doctor Toshiro. He always played games with her, though <em>his</em> games, <em>unfortunately</em>, always had a lot of boring, human rules. Like, today, <em>this</em> day, <em>this</em> new game, had lots of rules. Apparently Kyless was allowed outside, <em>needed</em> outside by <em>these</em> silly humans who trapped her, but only if she obeyed Toshiro’s human superior and only if she wore his <em>too</em> sparkly jewelry. For a moment, Kyless simply listened. <em>Jingle</em>. Her blue-grey head fell to one side. <em>Jingle</em>. And then the other, as the trickster pondered the rules, and how much she wanted ‘Outside Time’ on <em>this</em> day.<br/><br/>“I do not understand this human word - null-<em>lee</em>-fi?” Her soft voice attempted to repeat it back to him. “Does it mean <em>forever</em>, Doctor Toshiro? If it means my magic will go away forever than I will choose to stay inside my cell on this day and upset your human superior.” Kyless did not care what the human superior of SOPHE wanted, curious as it may have been. To participate in a mission for SOPHE. An <em>outside</em> mission for SOPHE. The trickster only cared about the ‘outside’ part, the potential to escape part, the loopholes in Toshiro’s boring, human rules part. There was at least one loophole now, at the start of this new game: the Doctor Toshiro needed to appease his human superior. But surely <em>that</em> was not a big enough loophole. <em>Jingle</em>, <em>jingle</em>, <em>jingle</em>. Kyless leaned her round, curious face closer to the silver box that held her gift from Toshiro. It may have looked like a bracelet, but his gift to her was definitely a collar, not unlike the one Marceline was wearing.<br/><br/><em>Marceline did not seem to hate her collar.</em> And somehow, she was still able to move in and out of Kyless' cell, <em>while</em> wearing it. “I will tell you the truth about the Garden of the Nosthervim if you will tell the same about your jewelry, Doctor Toshiro.” Kyless nodded, two more <em>jingles</em>, and next leaned back, away from his blinking gift and closer to the giant, glowing mushrooms, blue and purple in their periphery. “Demons without magic are vulnerable, especially outside, and especially as participants in missions for silly humans.” Kyless repeated Toshiro’s phrases as she ‘paced’ in front of him, but it was more of a skip from one bare foot to the other than a traditional 'pace'. <em>Jingle</em>. <em>Jingle</em>. <em>Jingle</em>. Let the game begin.</span><br/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/88/4c/bf/884cbf53c4e1e2f92d6cca255a4309e8.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;">“The Garden of The Nosthervim is a <em>truly</em> beautiful place. Bright,” one skip, one more <em>jingle</em>, “wondrous,” skip, <em>jingle</em>, “and alive.” Skip, <em>jingle</em>. Kyless turned her head towards one of the many giant mushrooms behind them. “Years ago, many before my own existence, the Nosthervim were well known demons of sickness and death, without preference, without warning. They traversed rapidly and grew over much land in the demon realms. I believe you humans call it a ‘plague’, yes? The Nosthervim are a kind of plague demon. Very pretty plague demons, and very greedy too, for only souls can feed their hunger. In this hunger, they took many souls and rotted the land of many other demons, many weaker demons, but then from one who only appeared weak. The Yeshawl.”<br/><br/>Her golden eyes blinked away an emotion as she turned to the Other Doctor, who she knew was both nervous and enchanted by her - and her stories. “Yeshawl are very tricky, Doctor Toshiro, for they can command time." Kyless pressed her dark blue lips together and gave a small shrug, correcting herself. <em>Jingle</em>, <em>jingle</em>. "What humans refer to as time. They can command it to stop, and not stop, whenever they please. It is a great power, that of the Yeshawl. But power that is so great must come with a great cost: the Yeshawl do not move freely. They are as still as they can make human time. Slow and drifting, and so the Nosthervim thought they were not a difficult challenge. This <em>mistake</em>," Kyless paused, emphasizing the word with a peculiar interest and grace, "cost the Nosthervim their freedom, for the Yeshawl did not lose. The Yeshawl froze the Plague Demons in time in a dark part of the demon realms, unable to move, unable to destroy, unable to feed their hunger."<br/><br/>Kyless clasped her hands in front of herself now, skipping back to where Toshiro and Marceline stood in place in her cell. "But still, the Nosthervim were greedy. And so they began to change, to <em>call out</em> to their food, to beckon the lost souls into their bright, wondrous light until they were devoured. Not as fast as before, because of the Yeshawl, but carefully, one by one, day by day, the Nosthervim devour a soul until nothing is left but a withering husk that falls to the Earth, and feeds the cold dirt at their feet. Sad but pretty, a lonely circle. One of Kyless' blue-grey hands stretched outward, and gestured widely at the glowing, gigantic mushrooms all around them. The illusions that the Doctor Toshiro had been watching the entire time. "<em>These</em> are the Nosthervim, these are what they had to become to survive. Still a… <em>plague</em>, but now ever hungry, so that no one ever leaves their pretty, alluring Garden.” Even in Kyless' illusionary landscapes, nothing was ever quite what it appeared. Light was danger, beauty was decay, and mushrooms were demons in disguise.<br/><br/>“But, do not fear the Nosthervim, Doctor Toshiro." Kyless looked at him now, seeing his gaze, with a small tilt of her head. Just one <em>jingle</em>. "For they are bound to their Garden, unable to leave, only able to lure those fooled by their beauty." It was also unlikely that the Doctor Toshiro would ever visit the demon realm in which the Nosthervim resided. The trickster gave a small chuckle, then shrugged again, <em>jingling</em> as she finished her story. "Though, we should fear the Yeshawl. We should fear and hope to never cross the path of the Yeshawl, lest we become like the Nosthervim, always hungry, rarely fed.” Of course, there was the obvious concern of why Kyless had chosen this, <em>this</em> deadly garden, as her illusion for today, <em>this</em> day. But it was not her turn in the new game anymore.</span>