“Uhh..yeah kinda,” Caprice had to respond candidly and boldly. She considered herself to be someone who was pretty good at picking up on energy, especially when it shifts. She couldn’t refrain from noticing this time around. The woman brought about more of an iffy feeling than even the two guards surrounding her. There was some dismay on Caprice’s part especially when it sounded as if the other was spewing about some religious mumbo jumbo from her mouth.
.
“May I ask why?” Margaux questioned; genuinely curious to know the reason for the young woman’s unease. To the Messiah, the biblical verses she recited were a comfort, and not an anomaly. All the while, the guards remain with rifles in hand, watching Caprice closely.
“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Margaux recites the verse with a beaming smile, hand outstretched in greeting. “Please don’t be afraid,” she says warmly, “I wish only to offer you succor.”
He worshipped her. Not in the romantic sense though he wouldn’t be opposed to any of her needs, but in a sense of awe. The power that she had and the certainty in all of her actions - the utter faith she had in things that none of them could ever really know for sure, she took it all and she had turned it into this family. Into a home for him and for so many others and she saved so selflessly, in his blind eyes anyway.
Griffin had tried to recruit in ways she wasn’t so opposed to but they all knew his methods were the most effective - the seduction of himself paired with the seduction of something more, a better life was too much to miss out on for most that found themselves in a place like Santa Ysabel and he could deliver people to her and the cause without too much effort, even if he lived in sin himself. It was ok, he believed in the cause enough to believe he would be forgiven.
“I would never, I am for the people, you know that.” He assured her as his face was taken between her hands and he felt the look on his face change. “I’ve taken time away from Zara, from the others, I’m guiding new people to you every day.”
.
Her grip loosens at his words, even though they are just a balm. Truth be told their numbers could be better, and she knew it was hardly fair to place so much upon Griffin’s shoulders to bring more to join her flock. To witness the flash of fear and subservience across his features continues to fill her with a rush. A rush she cannot quite articulate. Still, it was all the reassurance she needed to know he was still firmly within her control. Although at the mention of his young wife, the Messiah’s face hardens.
“Zara...” Margaux speaks the syllables slowly. Deliberately. Weighing the name on her tongue. “I’ve sensed from her that she longs to stray from my flock... Seeing as she is your wife, and no one would know her better than you...tell me: am I wrong in my suspicions?”
Lilian’s eyes move to the guards flanking the woman, unimpressed. She’s lived in the city too long. Seen all sorts coming through; when you saw a nicely dressed woman going on about god, you had two choices. Ignore and keep it moving or match her level. Crazy recognized crazy. But between the two of them, Lilian probably was the sanity between them.
“Mmhmm, yes, well. The Lord did say something about meet thy neighbor with love, didn’t he?” Her gaze is volleying between the two guards and their weapons before resting back towards the woman once more. “This woman, has carried her fair share of the yoke. And I’ve come to the point in my life where waiting is now an option for me, not a requirement. The Lord’s going to have to forgive me cause his child has no patience in the mornings.” Lilian moved forward, lightly shoulder-checking one of the guards as she came up to the counter. “Can I get a french press to go,” she called the nearest barista, not busy. Fixing her hair a little as she glanced at the woman with a scoff, “People do want me to come out of my character this morning. Lord’s deliverance…oh testing me.”
.
The guards act with little hesitation, each pointing a rifle at Lilian’s head as she pushed past their Messiah, safeties unhooked. Margaux does not flinch.
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” Margaux places a hand on each muzzle, slowly pushing them down and away from Lilian’s skull. She addresses the guards in tandem. “She, too, is Lost, like you both once were. She knows not how to quell her impatience. I permit her this trespass as she does not know any better. Would you kindly wait for me outside?” With silent nods, the men holster their rifles and make their exit, but not without parting furtive glances toward Lilian.
Margaux remains standing a mere foot away from Lilian, silently watching as the baristas complete their respective orders.
Once the woman and two guards entered the elevator, Caprice felt as if the energy altered, more so on the negative side of the spectrum. She initially found herself somewhat stagnant in regards to providing a reaction. She eventually didn’t refrain from giving a side eye at the sight. She turned her body and expression towards the opposite corner, not really even wanting to be near. Once the woman began speaking, an annoyed look manifested on Caprice’s face, “Oh chile no…” she quietly uttered to herself, at the mention of the Lord. “…No problem,” she lazily responded, now in state of uncomfortableness. She stepped to the side some, aiming to distance herself as best she could.
.
Her elevator companion’s sudden discomfort is palpable; as though the very molecules in the air shift with Caprice’s body language and intonation. It is something Margaux is all too familiar with; after all, the Sodomites never know how to handle being in the presence of the Righteous. This young woman was no different. The trajectory of Margaux’s gaze remains trained upon the younger woman seemingly pressing her body into the opposite corner of the car.
The big picture, Lilian wanted to roll her eyes all the way to the back of her head. Listening to the old croon talk about shit she didn’t even know drove the self reliant and ambitious woman crazy. She hated the fact that after all this time it still seemed her husband’s family didn’t think highly of her. Didn’t see how much work she put in. She was counting the days till she didn’t have to put up with the harpy anymore. Frustrated and only slightly hung over, she walked into the small cafe. Seeing the line she scowled removing her sunglasses , “ Oh hell no,” she muttered. Quickly making her way to the front, ignoring the murmuring that followed after her. Coming to stand at the front of the line next to someone.
“ Listen baby, I’ve got like ten minutes before I go around stabbing people. Unless I have some coffee in my system. And I really don’t want to stab you, you look sweet. Your coffee is on me if you let me ahead, I’ll even throw a pastry in with it, what do ya say sweetheart?”
The Messiah, flanked by her ever-present guards, is wholly unmoved by the woman’s ‘plea’ that was currently interrupting her own coffee order. The two men covertly tighten their grips around the rifles slung over their chests.
Margaux does not flinch, nor does she deign to make eye contact with the frantic interloper. Instead she calmly completes her order and only turns to face Lilian as the barista walks away. "The Lord is good to those who hope in Him, to the person who seeks Him. It's good to wait in silence for the Lord's deliverance. It's good for a man to carry a yoke in his youth."
Open - Anyone | Location - TBD
@indulgencerpgstarters
Griffin was never not on the look for people to save and welcome to the believer of the damned. It had been so integral to his life at this point wondering eyes for lost souls was as natural to him as breathing was. Most days those he found to rescue were an accident, bars, cafes, walks through the park in this city the possibility of finding someone who felt they needed a higher purpose was almost certain but today - today he was looking with intent. Desperate for the rush of leading someone to their awakening and he was determined that he would have the next believer in his grasp by the end of the day. As soon as his eyes locked with the other he knew it was them, something about the other calling to him. “Hi.” He smiled before dropping the eye contact for a second, jaw moving into something of a smirk.
Griffin was one of her more promising acolytes, though he was not unlike a colt; still wild, still quite a bit of training left to do. While he had a preternatural talent to draw in sinners like flies to honey, Margaux did not particularly like the means with which he operated. And even now, in this moment, within a bustling cafe in broad daylight, his errant flirtations were not welcome. The subtle flinch of his eyes and curve of his mouth ignite a small fire within Margaux’s gut.
Guiding the Lost to their salvation was never a joking manner, and the firm hand that reaches out to grasp Griffin’s throat upon his approach is not in a joking manner either. The grip is not enough to restrict his breath, but it is enough to send a message, and the Messiah leans her face close to his.
“Woe to the world for temptations to sin. For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes.” Margaux murmurs through a clenched jaw, before locking her gaze with Griffin. “I fear that you are dallying...every day that passes, more are guided away from me by the False Prohets. What have you been doing to fix that, Griffin?”
Caprice’s nails traversed through her hair as she lifted her ponytail, extending it past her right shoulder. She suddenly caught herself engulfed with her reflection on the other side of the mirror that neighbored the elevator of the hotel she was currently in. She had been visiting a friend here and was preparing to leave. The elevator had already been called by the woman, so upon waiting for the doors to progress with opening, Caprice did initially decide to give a brief inspection of her appearance, but thoughts that trailed over from the prior night kept her there longer. Once the elevator opened, she snapped back and sashayed inside. Once she selected the lobby, she suddenly peered at an individual who was hastily making their way to the elevator. “Oop,” she uttered, as they practically jumped in, being successful with making it before the doors closed. “Almost missed it, these doors were not playing,” she said, chuckling slightly.
Margaux does not return the lighthearted banter given so easily by the young woman who graciously held the elevator door open for her, and she steps into the elevator car, two guards in tow.
Positioning herself in the far corner, hands clasped together at the front of her hips, she mutters aloud to no one in particular, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” The guards both nod their heads in unison in response.
Finally, as the car lurches upward, Margaux turns to Caprice and offers a quiet, “Thank you.”
✗✗✗ a little birdie told me [ margaux le voy ] from [ the damned ] was seen around town lately. the [ ciswoman ] is definitely up to no good. [ she ] has been here for [ ten years ] now but they’re still pretty [ duplicitous ] which is fine because they’re also [ outwardly pious ] so it balances out. the [ forty seven ] year old [ surgeon ] actually looks like a lot like [ sarah paulson ], don’t you think? rumors say they work as [ the “messiah” ] for the [ the damned ] and have been around for [ since the groups inception ]. it’s best to watch out, though, because it’s been said that they’re really into [ corporeal torture & being worshipped ]. (jack, 30+, she/her, est, none)
~ LET US SLAY ~
GENESIS
Margaux was born and raised in an isolated mountain town deep in Appalachia by a pair of God Fearing parents. Conservative dress, traditional roles, shunning anything popular culture, or greatly enjoyed by ‘feckless sinners’.
Margaux began preaching as a teenager to her fellow youngsters; her charismatic sermons drew a small, but growing following. Although some were privy to the sporadic acts of violence she would inflict whenever her burgeoning authority was challenged. However, this did not deter them, and her followers quickly learned that while she truly cared deeply for them, her threats are never empty.
Diverging from the incredibly sheltered teachings of her parents, Margaux surmised that the best Good could be achieved by learning to live amongst the Sodomites, and learning their ways. She left her home at 18 to begin her ‘Mission’ of salvation. As Margaux does not believe that science subverts the will of God, she became a doctor in order to literally save people. For all intents and purposes, she is a gifted surgeon who has helped countless patients with her prowess and skill. However, she soon began performing ‘spiritual surgeries’ on patients whose ailments she believes go deeper than the physical.
These ‘spiritual surgeries’ have left patients, that she has deemed irredeemable sinners, mutilated. When they come to missing the legs that kept them adulterating, or without the tongue they used to cheat and slander, only then does Margaux consider them ‘cured’.
Naturally, this got her in a lot of trouble with the medical boards, and she relocated to Santa Ysabel where she continues to practice medicine, and ‘spiritual surgeries’, to this day.
THE MESSIAH
Margaux takes her role of ‘The Messiah’ deadly seriously. Due to a near death incident, wherein she claims to have been approached by God, she now views herself akin to the second coming. She deems the other ‘Leaders’ in Santa Ysabel as False Prophets leading everyone straight into Satan’s hands.
Margaux is pleasant when speaking with others. She is polite, does not curse, and claims to love all Sinners. The Damned are all her children.
Those whom comprise her Flock are known as The Damned, and she is their Messiah. She takes care of them, her word is law, and they follow her unquestionably. She loves them, unquestionably...even if her expression of said love is, at times, questionable.
All of her flock were once drenched with sin, but she has since shown them the light and put them onto the path of salvation. Over time, she has grown to love the immense power she holds over her Flock, and will invoke swift retribution on anyone who challenges her.
Margaux sees herself as one of the last of the true Righteous among men, and that it is her God-given duty to save the heathens left in ‘Sodom’. However she is not without sins of her own -- though she would hardly call them sins.
She rarely travels anywhere without a small contingent of armed guards -- her most ardent devotees who would gladly die for her.
dailybridgerton
snowghoul
janainaart
theartofmadeline
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