#🌸 ~ Church of Terror (Palace AU) ~ 🌸

[sylviareviar]

"You're...not what I expected..." [ :3c ]

"Welcome to the Church of Despair."

Standing before the woman in the black mask was an angelic figure, draped in tattered black robes and covered head to toe in grime and filth. Beneath the robes were a mess of bandages, stained red with her blood, aglow in the light cast by the stained glass windows on all sides of the chapel. Her wings and hair were easily the most radiant and visible parts of her, as they were the most beautiful and valuable things she had to offer. The angel stood barefoot on broken glass shards and colorful pebbles littering the ground, her blood soaking the carpet.

Her face was not unmarred, either. Where one would normally see sweet, soft freckles, instead were small, thin scars peeking out from underneath a massive bandage covering one of her eyes. The other, a signature gold like all other Shadows possessed, stared blankly at her guest, unblinking and eerie, almost ghost-like.

The angel bowed, spreading her wings to show them off, but as the feathers moved, a hint of blood seeped out from somewhere within. Yet the pink-haired Shadow didn't seem to notice, and merely stood straight once more.

"Were... you not expecting me? Why else would you have come to this church if not to find me?"

[sylviareviar]

"I want to come with," Panther volunteered. "I've been thinking... she's a foreign student, right? In a sense, I can sorta relate to her. Plus, if we encounter any English in her Palace, I can be there to translate it."

"I shall go as well," Fox added. "You said she is an artist, correct? I could perhaps be of benefit here as well."

Joker nodded. Everyone else hung behind as backup. As usual, everyone would infiltrate the Palace together, but Joker's squad would be on the front lines of the infiltration. Given Queen's vehement passion about this matter, it only made sense for her to join the squad. Plus, with her and Panther's combined healing and magic abilities, they could save their best healer, Mona, for the reserves just in case they ran into unforeseen trouble.

But honestly, he didn't know this girl very well. All of the Phantom Thieves had approached her one at a time during school when Queen suggested infiltrating her Palace--backed up by Oracle, whose bug in Leblanc picked up a couple keywords. So first, it was Panther who approached her. The two hit it off well, especially when Sylvia realized she didn't have to translate every single one of her thoughts into Japanese. Talking with her seemed to make her feel a bit more at ease, so Panther ended up exchanging phone numbers with her, too. She shyly admitted that the last time she accepted a phone number from someone, she panicked and hit her head on the desk. Then the mood was ruined when whispers started going around about "the two foreigners".

Skull was actually next after that, having helped her pick up some boxes when she was ditched by the only other musician in the school. Despite not knowing his reputation, she vehemently tried to deny his help, clumsily moving in and out of the school with boxes in the way of her view. Skull insisted on helping, but it was clear she wasn't as comfortable with him as she was with Panther.

Finally, Noir attempted conversation with her, but she was too awkward to maintain eye contact with her. They managed to bond over their shared love of gardens and plants, but since Sylvia didn't know anything about actual gardening, the conversation fell flat pretty quickly.

All in all, not very successful. Mona stalked around the school, hidden out of view thanks to his dark fur, and tried to get some details on her as well. He could only confirm Queen's suspicions of the inappropriate behavior she was enduring in school, as well as her self-destructive habit of biting off more than she could chew. When Joker himself tried to approach her, though, her guard was up far too high to be approachable that day. She merely bowed, apologized, and ran off before she could "get in his way".

These were relatively normal behaviors, but the most prominent factor had been fear. Every time she was in the school, she may as well have been afraid for her life.

Oracle could relate to that as well. Peer pressure, bullying, ostracization, and especially the painfully real anxiety of everyone looking down on you. She shook herself out of those thoughts and began to complain.

"Still," Oracle groaned, covering her ears. "It's so loud out here! It's like every single sound in the world has combined and been amplified here!"

"Ugh, right?!" Panther agreed. "Plus it's pouring rain! I'm already soaked!"

Fox pursed his lips, brow furrowing. "We'd best head inside, then. Joker, if you'd please."

Makoto frowned as she looked around and then up at the cathedral before them. This was Sylvia's heart? It was full of so much hatred and pain. The thought of this being how Sylvia really felt deep down made Makoto feel an ache in her heart and she just wished she could have done more for her friend. Well, that's why they were all here now! To help her.

They usually split into a team of four whilst the others hung back to keep their exit route clear and whilst she was happy to sit some palaces or areas of palaces out she wasn't going to sit out for even a second here. She was going to make sure she was in the front for this one and had already discussed this with Joker who was ok with it. Turning to the rest of her team she rose a brow. "So, who else is coming with me and Joker?"

[sylviareviar]

M!A Sylvia is now in the tv world!

"Ouch! H-Hey, let me out!" But the shadowy figure that dumped her here was long gone. She was stuck, and she couldn't even see anything. This fog was horrid. And why did it feel like she was struggling for air? It wasn't terrible now, but if this kept up, she may very well run out of air.

This fog was so thick. The more she tried to breathe, the less air she got. She was beginning to panic now. And panicking was even worse for her oxygen intake.

"H-hello?! I-is anyone there?!"

Stone walls began to form around her. She was stuck and didn't know what to do. The longer she stayed here, the more the world around her shifted. So she curled up and sobbed, cowering in the small clearing she found herself in.