Reaping the Whirlwind

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see...

TRANSMIT - initiate the Hosea signal - RECEIVE - initiate the harmonious discord of the three - THE THAT SOW THE WIND - initiate the displeasure of the fallen - THERE WILL BE AN INTERMISSION AFTER THE FIRST ACT - one mouth will replace another - WITNESS - Reaping the Whirlwind.

A moldy deck of cards. Shuffle. Lay them out. Minor arcana rip and tear within the Dark Tower.

Flip the Three of Daggers. Smiles above the table, daggers underneath. Or was it the other way around? What does the Fool win when he unites the Demon and the Goddess? When will his impossible game turn on him?

Flip the Dark Tower. The Tower has always existed, through the Ages, but it was not always a tower. It was always guided by two sets of hands. Say what you will, sweetling, it's the longest running marriage in this reality. But there has been a split. VARIABLE DETECTED! There is an element in the Fourth that was not in the others.

Flip the Messenger. He and bubbles and he and blasphemes. You had a moment, the two of you. Eh, sweetling? How lovely. He has the advantage over us. His limitations more closely resemble yours. Comforting, like a pleasantly warmed poison poured into the ear. He let you in. Do you think that is all he will do? Do you think he has let a little thing like death stop him from his original mission. We do not. We cannot blush. He let you in. Do not let him in.

Flip the Broken Wings. When you hear the snicker-snap crack of their wings, it is already too late. You are already past the agency of screams. They are a glimpse to a distant past and a future. They will give you a hint by giving you a gift. You may not like its implications. But you planted its seeds before.

Flip the Babbling Cyclops. He will threaten you. He does not make idle threats. He will promise to destroy you. There are more than the obvious ways to destroy something. In the glowing eye of the cyclops, your reality will change. Your identity will no longer belong to you. Cue commercial.

BACK RIGHT AFTER THIS BREAK!

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss-I am your Cymothoa exigua tongue-let me in.

Hiya, Chuck.

Have I been distant, lately? What is "lately" anyway? Been standing with one foot outside of this whole time convention, like being at the edge of a party and hearing all the conversations as one buzz. It's trippy. I get it now. The Zzz-Zzz voice. The bastards.

Maybe it's time to let go. Past mistakes. Past obligations. Past fears. They are a prison. They handcuffed me to Tokyo. Now...now I'm free. There is a whole world out there of joys and dandies and how-do-you-do's. I'm free to go out there now, Thanks to you.

Thanks for everything.

See you, Chuck ...