[video, un: billy & un: clary] open to stars & moon

[driving]

- does this really go out to everyone? Okay. Anyways, hey, I'm Billy.

Sure does! ( Helpful, Clary! She turns to the video feed properly, giving a not-very-cool-at-all half wave. ) And I'm Clary. I know I've talked to some of you before, especially about the branded and what they're up to. And... there's seriously no good way to say this, but we have some updates on that.

They were involved in the attack last month, and probably the famine, too. At least, the monster that killed me had that same brand. [ And the whole 'it killed me' business is as good of a segue as any to the topic of Death itself. ]

I was brought back by Death. It told me that the branded had something to do with Temperance. Death used to have her soul, but it was stolen a few months ago.

Which is probably around when the branded started showing up during harvest. ( The takeover between them is smoother than it has any right to be; an easy back and forth as the information is shared. ) As some of you know, a few of us got blank tarot cards from a guy named Vuzor after he said 'balance comes for us all'. Well- ( Clary holds up her tarot card. Temperance is displayed across the front in all its glory with gold writing over it saying TEMPERANCE RETURNS. ) Temperance stands for balance, usually. Keeping it. Which is sort of the theme that the branded have been running with. ( As though needing another ominous piece, Clary turns the card around to the back where a countdown is happening. ) And now we might have a deadline.

Death says we need to prepare ourselves and from the sound of things, it was dead serious. [ Okay, he covers his mouth to stifle a laugh. He didn't mean to make a death pun, really. This is very important information. ] So we've got less than a month to get our shit together, find out what we can, and either try to stop this from happening or get ready to face something that makes everything else we've fought so far look easy.

So if you know anything, or find anything, you better cough it up. [ He stands with his fists clenched like he's about to steal everyone's lunch money, before he clears his throat and his stance relaxes a little. Maybe threats weren't the best way to go about this. He's still getting used to being nice. ] I mean, shit, this doesn't sound like something any of us can face on our own, so it'll be better if we work together.

( And Clary has to turn away from the screen to hide her dumb smile at the bad joke, gaining her composure back in time for Billy to finish. ) Which we've all been doing a lot already, so we should be getting pretty good at it! But like Billy said, if you know anything we haven't mentioned, or find anything out, please let everyone know.

( With that, Clary will reach forward in order to turn the video feed off. )

Comments

[enkelis]

Azrail? ( She's thinking she should know that name, but- )

Well. A bunch of innocent people being killed and big monsters walking the planet probably equals "dire need", I think. ( She'd hope? But also not hope, because if the branded are this bad, Clary doesn't want to know what Temperance will be like. )

But I guess our next question is "how does a God return"? And how do we stop it from happening by people like that?

[unabatedly]

One of Death's attendants, a man with dark hair.

[ She supposes that the cat's out of the bag a little, since eight people have already seen the both of them as...husks, in a sense, in Death's grove. ]

I don't know if-- This might sound strange but I don't believe any god can die, not without Death knowing. And so if Temperance died as a mortal and it's meant to return, then wouldn't it simply need another mortal body to inhabit?

[enkelis]

I... guess that would make sense. But how do you put an immortal soul into a mortal body in the first place? Especially a stolen soul.

( She huffs a breath; this is above and beyond anything she's handled back home. )

Marianne had a good point, though. What if Death doesn't want us to... kill her, like other people are suggesting. What if we're supposed to save her from whoever took her soul?

[unabatedly]

Likely using means that are already outlawed, like blood magic or necromancy. Even then, I imagine it would require an unconscionable amount of power to achieve...especially without harming a mortal host.I fear how many people will be sacrificed for this.

[ Obviously, if Temperance has done this before, it won't be an unheard of feat. Still, it feels like an impossible task. ]

It's possible. It would mean destroying the ritual site, stopping the participants...

[ Likely killing the mortal vessel, if that's even how this is going to happen. What if it's a baby or a child? ]