thenearshore | -Overflow- for 015

Then I'll find a god who already has shinki to spare. Or a god who can't use my weapon form properly.

[Really, with that in mind, Ayumu had been the perfect god for him. She had Sakon if there was an ayakashi that needed to be rended, and his weapon form hadn't suited her fighting style very well anyway. Most importantly, he'd been able to come and go freely whenever he pleased.]

Or are you going to admit you need me to stay? I can go to another god, but if you don't have another shinki, there's not much you can do about ayakashi without me. You need me more than I need you.

[Of course he's not going to admit that he needs Ross. Not out loud, anyway.]

What are you after? [He's a shinki. What could he possibly want? Schuldig dips into the other guy's mind after the question helps prompt some ideas to the surface.]

I can pay you in your favorite food, but I'm not going away. What is it - desserts? Those Japanese jelly square things?

[He's one step away from grabbing the guy and teleporting somewhere to talk at length, depending on how the suggestion that he's a telepath goes over. His patience is wearing thin.]

[Ross visibly tensed. That was a bit too accurate for him to dismiss as a lucky guess.] Don't do that again.

[Though he wasn't quite sure what "that" was, and he didn't have a whole lot of faith in his request actually being honored. But he sure as hell wasn't going to let that go without saying something about it. If it was magic then he would have at least had a way to defend himself, but he couldn't sense any from Schuldig.]

...Pay me every other day and you've got a deal. [If he wasn't going to be released, he was just going to have to make do.]

Fine, fine, whatever sweets you want, so long as you don't gorge yourself so much I can't call on you because you're throwing up in a bathroom somewhere.

[ He lets out a sigh of boredom, mainly. Of all the mundane things to have to placate a shinki with... but whatever, he supposed a sweet tooth was at least easier to procure payment for than someone like Farfarello, who wanted blood and mayhem. And he was fine with blood and mayhem, but in controlled situations where Crawford was aware of it. Not just because someone got an itch they couldn't scratch. He did that enough on his own. ]

So if I teleport you somewhere we can name you, that's your agreement.

[ He selectively uses his teleportation this time - not forcing Ross to come with him. But if he chooses to go with Schuldig, they'll end up inside of the front entryway of his temple. It doesn't have any obvious entrance or exit. That's why he teleports people straight in when he knows he's about to make a clandestine deal. ]

[Fortunately Ross had a black hole for a stomach, so making himself sick wasn't likely. Not to mention that Schuldig saying "whatever sweets you want" were the kind of words that would be burned into his memory and ready to be pulled out at a moment's notice.

He offered no response to those words, but he didn't hesitate to go along with the teleportation either. When he said it was a deal, he meant it. It wouldn't have been terribly difficult to mess with his new god either, but that fact that he didn't even try was not a good sign, as counterintuitive as that sounded.]

Is this your temple?

It is. I'm a god whose followers value privacy, so the temple is tucked away and there's a strict No Visitors Without Permission policy. I'll know if there's someone else here. Sometime later I'll introduce you to the only other god who comes and goes here at his leisure - sometimes without notice. But for now...

[The words he has to say aren't any easier to say now - those sappy things he doesn't feel, which are purely business-sounding in the case of Ross. He just can't change the phrasing without risking the Naming process going wrong. He doesn't hold onto the spiral of colors any longer than necessary this time. Flecks of yellow and orange light start to appear around them.]

Spirit, you are lost and adrift
You have nowhere to go and nowhere to return to
Thus I grant you a place to belong!

[His eyes start to glow brighter blue than the color they already are.]

My name is Loki!

[That's when, instead of random swirls, Schuldig starts to draw the character between himself and Ross, roughly the size of Ross himself. It shines bright orange and yellow as Schuldig paints it in midair.]

Edited 2017-05-14 01:54 (UTC)

I wonder how your followers would feel if you were bending those privacy rules for certain gods.

[That was all he could get in before Schuldig got right down to business. Granted, he wasn't particularly thrilled with the incantation either. He had plenty of places to go to, thank you very much! At least it was somewhat offset by the total mismatch between the intent of the words and the delivery. He could certainly find some amusement in that, and he was not shy about letting it show on his face, even if it was only for a moment.

Something he would have wanted to be more shy about if he knew were the circumstances surrounding his death.

"Sorry, Sion. Yer era's already over."

Before he could even realize what was going on, the tanned man had passed by him, leaving a gaping hole in Ross' left side in his wake. Pressing his new wound with only his hand did little to stop the blood from flowing freely. It was all he could do to keep himself from collapsing right then and there, and he grit his teeth against the sudden pain.

"If we're being too noisy in the Demon World, Alba may notice us and come running. That would be troublesome." His attacker turned to look at him. "Sion, thank you for everything."

Ross could only let out a curse as the tanned man then turned his attention to the shadow guy and the boy lying unconscious on the ground. He would have been able to get the kid out of here if there hadn't been any interference. He'd been so close to stopping Lake from sharing Crea's fate...!

"I made Lake swallow the Maker-kun. Now, make a new era with him. Show me a fun world~"

He saw the kid--his brother--being taken away, and whatever force of will he could muster did him little good in this situation. His body still refused to move. Ross couldn't even be sure of how much time had passed before his consciousness began to fade, and the last thing he saw was a blurry image of a person running toward him and shouting words he was too far gone to decipher.

It was a death that didn't quite match with how he usually carried himself, not that he realized that.

That aside, he allowed the light to engulf him. He hated this part. Being changed into his vessel form was one of the worst parts of being a shinki, and there was no convincing him on that front.]

[Apparently he wasn't going to be able to call the guy Sion in order to name him. For whatever reason that resulted in his death, the guy thinks his name is Ross now, and Schuldig doesn't want an ayakashi on his hands, so "Ross" it is. He's rather pleased, for a change... if this guy is a fighter like Mikazuki was, but not quite as lazy or difficult to drag out... then yeah, paying him in sweets will be worth it. That's the primary takeaway Schuldig has from Ross's death scene. He's seen more brutal things, and committed some of them with his own hands.]

Bearing two names you shall remain here
With these names I make thee my servant
With these names I use my life to make thee a regalia fit to be wielded by a god.
Thou art Ross!
As Regalia, Sen!
Come... Senki!

[He waits as the bright blue light engulfs Ross - turning him into Senki - and pulls in the general direction of his outstretched hand. Schuldig is very curious now, between a pair of boots and a sword, what this third shinki of his might become. Not one he pulled off the street for a quick prayer, but the third one actually assigned to him as the god Loki. He knows he has no control over the form a shinki takes, but he really hopes for something useful that can Rend ayakashi. At this point, that's his only breaking point.]

[He was practically bristling as his new vessel name was given. Though perhaps that hostility was coming through anyway, as he emerged from that blue light as a somewhat peculiar set of pauldron armor rather than a weapon that suited the name he'd been given. Any attempts at Rending ayakashi would have to get a little creative. Or involve punching.]

It's done. Now change me back.

[As even as his tone may have sounded, the god/shinki bond betrayed any sort of calm that he wanted to show.]

Hold up there, tiger.

[Schuldig doesn't beat around when it comes to business.]

You want paid, you're gonna work. I've got prayers piled up and there's good pay for me in answering them. Which means you get paid. Which means we're gonna take this bizarre contraption of your vessel form out for a spin.

[Because that really was his first realization. Whatever this thing was... armor, weapon, whatever... it's heavy as fuck. And he's gonna have to make some major modifications to their agreement if he can't even use the damn thing that Ross turns into.]

[...Tiger? The only response to that was an emotional one, which basically equated to "what." Being compared to a cat of any type wasn't that far off, though.

He was quiet during Schuldig's explanation too. It was becoming obvious that requesting anything from his god wasn't going to get him very far. No matter how stubborn he got, dragging this out would only mean he would have to spend even more time in his vessel form. So, he was left with only one choice here.]

Fine. What prayers are we doing?

Some kid in the Near Shore is pleading to Loki for some help with quick-witted responses during Debate Club.

[He teleports the two of them down to a school's exterior gate where the kid is leaving from Debate Club, meaning it's almost dark too.]

Just gotta give the weakling some advice and then we can hunt around for an ayakashi in the area while we're at it.

[Schuldig jumps down at that point, walking towards the kid. Clearly he's not here to beat around the bush.]

Ah, poor kid. Should have been more specific about the kind of quick-witted responses they were praying for. [Oh boy. It was really for the best that he wasn't really the one being asked for advice. Or that he wasn't a god anyone could pray to, for that matter.

Speaking of, the kid looked visibly alarmed when they noticed the god in their presence.]

"W-what...?!"

[Schuldig smirks.]

I'm here because you asked for me. You want help being better at the Debate Club.

[There's a sly smirk that crosses his face while the kid-bug eyes at him a little.]

You know exactly who I am, don't lie to yourself. Anyway, my advice is this: Learn more about your debate opponents going into it. People are emotional creatures - don't ignore that. -- You just thought "The law is reason, free from passion." Nice quote, but too outdated. And you're not studying to be a lawyer, right? So don't worry about it so much. Appeal to their emotions. You know these kids, you go to school with them.

"Wait, I want to get all this down!"

[The kid fumbled with their belongings before scribbling everything down. Ross could tell that they were still in-awe of what was happening despite what Schuldig said, and he couldn't say whether the kid even believed what they were seeing, but they were still listening. This prayer seemed like it would go well, at least.]

"So I need to do some research on them... I-I'll do it if it means they start taking me seriously!" [They bowed deeply.] "Thank you so much!"

[Ross said nothing, but he did always have a bit of a soft spot for people who were willing to try so hard. Even if the method was a bit misguided in this case.]

[[OOC:Prayer Link here]]

Not gonna be that easy, but got him out of the way.

[In the least messy way possible, too. He folds his arms, still trying to learn how this thing is supposed to be something he can fight in.]

There's something close by - might be his ayakashi or not. But my first question is how I'm going to take it out when this thing is so heavy.

[And he's actually a bit stronger than a normal human anyway.]

Do you recognize what this vessel form even is?

Nope. Never seen it before.

[He said that as if he was stating a simple fact of life. Though he did get the feeling that this was a topic he didn't want to spend much time on, so maybe it was no surprise that he was going to take the conversation elsewhere.]

Try that handle there.

[Ross was referring to the metal guard around Schuldig's left forearm, which had a handle looking thing located right above the knuckles of his hand.]

[The only good part about being a Telepath in this kind of situation where he really did not trust Ross at all was that he believed what Ross said... by virtue of confirming those thoughts in his mind, just as casually as he'd done to the boy. Fine, if he didn't remember anything with his previous god(s), then he wasn't about to bother digging deeper now and risk breaking a brand new shinki.]

Huh? This one?

[Sure Ross didn't know what it would do, but then again neither did Schuldig. Nor could he exactly take the damn thing off to try it. Curiosity and all... oh well.]

Alright, get ready...

[And he pulls the handle just enough to realize it's not just going to give, and instead yanks it hard.]

[The handle gave way, revealing the attached wire. Not only that, but pulling out the handle caused a small fan on the back to spring to life, and the long exhaust pipes nearby spewed flames not long after. Something was powering on, though he couldn't say what it was. He'd just been a sword before; this was decidedly more complicated.]

You can set things on fire now. Good for you.

[Schuldig turns around and reaches for his hair to pull it out of the way. Holy shit!! Not good for someone with long hair.]

Damnit!

[He's still got a hold of the handle though.]

That's not what I thought your power was!

[Meanwhile, there's an ayakashi skulking around the school yard and now coming around the corner of the building. It looks like a slow-waddling duck of sorts.]

Pffft. [Unfortunately, Ross found this turn of events to be hilarious.]

What did you think it was? [Granted, he wasn't convinced that was all there was to this form, but that part could be left unsaid for a little while.

He thankfully noticed the ayakashi before he could rub more salt into the wound. However, he said nothing about it, figuring that Schuldig was more than aware of its presence anyway. Or he was just being an asshole again. Either/or.]

Something less... obvious!

[Schuldig actually ducks into a crouch in order to jump up onto the gate. Damn this thing is heavy. What happened to those light boots, geez!]

I guess I'll just have to try it the hard way for now. You know how to rend or were former gods too lame for prayers that involved ayakashi?

[From Ross's attitude, he could glean that the guy didn't hold much attachment to those former gods - or so he believed.]

[And that assessment would be correct, although not for the obvious reasons. It wasn't so hard to avoid getting too attached if he never allowed himself to get any more attached than he had to. While that was how he felt about it, there was still a slight pang of irritation at hearing his former gods be referred to as "lame."]

I know how.

[That was one of the perks of being around as long as he had. He'd had some time to figure this stuff out.]

Hurry up, or the duck's going to very slowly waddle away.

Good. One less thing to teach you.

[Because he's had to teach plenty of shinki. Their gods wouldn't use them at all, so they didn't know how to even rend an ayakashi. That, he considered lame. Ross could deal with it.

Since it's slowly waddling though... he can at least walk right up to it, speaking casually as he goes and managing to lift that armored arm into the air.]

You who desecrate this Land of the Rising Sun!
With my advent, I, Loki, lay waste with the Senki
and expel thy vast defilement!

[He brings the armored part down on the ayakashi's head like ringing a gong, not letting his own hand touch the blighted skin of the ayakashi at all..]

REND!

I don't want to learn anything from you.

[Ross' vessel form glowed and left a streak of light in the air as Schuldig struck the unsuspecting duck ayakashi right on the noggin. Seeing it clutch its head and let out a noise of complaint before disappearing would have been comical if it wasn't--well, an ayakashi.]

How was an ayakashi like that even able to stick around this long...?

[Seriously, someone was dropping the ball here.]

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Prayer #34 Start

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7/10 woo

we can do it!!

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BOOM 10/10

Prayer #36 Start!

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