thenearshore | [Closed] Agony's torn at the heart too long

[Kairi shifts herself in front of Goten when she sees the Soulless shinki thrashing against the walls. More than thinking Goten can't protect himself, it's just such a painful sight for her, she doesn't want to subject Goten to any more of it than necessary.]

You can tell us - we'll understand. Sometimes accidents happen... [She looks over her shoulder at Goten.] Sometimes we don't know what we're getting into. We're all just trying our hardest without our memories to guide us, aren't we?

[Looking back at the Soulless shinki, Kairi takes several steps closer, until she's in line of sight with the Soulless shinki girl between Chikusa and Izumo.]

Maybe it was just an accident and that's why you feel guilty about it?

[But as soon as Kairi says 'accident' that gets the other girl's attention, and she shakes her head at 'guilty,' much more intensely this time.]

"Not an accident - an ayakashi."

[Kairi's eyes open wide - she hadn't heard a Soulless shinki speak before. She thought they were mute given how much screaming this girl had done without a single word.]

But... if it was an ayakashi, then the holy water would have...

[It had done something, or else the girl wouldn't have screamed in pain at the time. Now she looks on the verge of tears and yet no tears appear to be coming.]

"If not for that thing-!!"

[Her voice has an unnatural growl to it now, and the Soulless's neck and chest are protruding in strange ways, a horn growing out the side of her head too.]

She was attacked- so it's not her fault, right?!

[Kairi's gaze darts back and forth between Hakkai - across the other side of the Ablution barrier - and the Soulless shinki herself.]

[At first he's not really thinking much about Kairi's attempts to speak with the soulless. It's just background noise, something that might distract him. However, then there's actually a response, and he stirs slightly.]

If holy water and ablution won't work.... then....

[His hand slips into his pocket again, wrapping around the yoyo he'd tucked away but not returned to its box. That leaves only one choice, doesn't it?]

It hasn't failed yet.

[Hakkai's voice is cold, his hand still raised with fingers outstretched in the borderline-casting gesture as he stares at the warping shinki within the tiny triangle of light. His next words are addressed to her: just as cold, just as implacable.

But she is a person, damaged though she may be. She understands them.]

It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Let go of your hatred.

[Hypocritical? Yes, of course.

But he's on this side of the barrier, not that one, where negative emotions are transforming her into a monster before their eyes.]

We can't let her go as long as she continues to transform.

[He's sorry, Kairi, but whether it's this shinki's fault or not, she's still a threat.

Izumo watches the warping shinki, watches as she screams at them while that horn continues to protrude out of her chest. Those eyes seem to look around wildly at all of them, and Izumo keeps his fingers outstretched, focusing on keeping up the borderline.]

[This is an ablution...?
As eager as he was before, now he stands unsure behind Kairi. He's seen soulless shinki and ayakashi before but this is different. But it's the painful screaming that's really eating at Goten and makes his stomach sink. Shouldn't they be helping her? This is suppose to help her, right?
His gaze shifts from Hakkai, Izumo and to Kairi's back. It's got to be helping her even if it's hurting her. Sorta like a big splinter that has to be pulled out. Only this is a very big embedded ayakashi-splinter.
His hands ache imagining an ayakashi could do all of this...
Its as Kairi steps forward, that Goten follows after reaching out to grab onto her clothing to try and keep her from getting too close. It's dangerous to get much closer, Goten can feel that much. But the girl is responding to Kairi even as the blight starts to change the shinki]

Isn't all this suppose to stop her from getting worse?

[He tugs on the fabric gently]

Kairi, keep talking to her. Maybe it'll help....give her something to focus on, you know?

[Maybe distract her from the pain and screaming? He's not sure if it'll actually work or not but Kairi is good at talking. Just, please don't get any closer.]

[Kairi's worried at Chikusa's words, but Hakkai's reassure her. They have a little more time - not much, but a little. She doesn't want to let her go, she understands Izumo's concerns, but Goten believes as she does that talking her through it might help. It's not like it's going to make things worse, right? The girl was already blighted...

But Hakkai's words... Hate...]

Who do you hate? The ayakashi? Or someone else?

[Maybe herself, Kairi wonders. She doesn't know what she's expecting in response, but she gets one anyway as the ayakashi girl slams against the inner wall of the ablution barrier nearest Kairi.]

"Threw me away!! After an accident!"

[And now that she's crying, Kairi's crying too.]

Your... god did?

[She gets a nod in response through screams and tears and more pounding on the wall.]

"Because... couldn't protect... Both of us, hurt and blight everywhere..."

[As the Soulless shinki sinks to her knees, Kairi does too, possibly dragging Goten down with her.]

I'm so sorry... You went to the Near Shore and- [Kairi starts a little as the girl shakes her head.] No? Not the Near Shore? [Through her tears, Kairi sees her nodding her head yes.] Then, where- Wait, the Far Shore? [Another slow nod yes.] Oh no - you really were ambushed then... An ayakashi in the Far Shore...

[Kairi pulls her hands up around her arms as she shudders at the thought.]

"I tried... I tried... Wasn't enough..."

[The blight hasn't progressed at least. The horn even starts to dissolve off the side of her head.]

Edited (minor html goof) 2017-03-17 02:26 (UTC)

[In the end, it really is a good thing that Hakkai was one of those that they called. At his words, Chikusa doesn't remove his hand or ease up, but he also doesn't pull out his weapon, and keeps his line going strong. He's not really sure what he's expecting to happen of this so long as there's no progress being made...]

[Kairi keeps talking again- at the prompting of the kid besides her? Chikusa isn't really paying much mind there- and he blinks as more answers actually come forth.]

[....And also here's a lot of crying happening, which, frankly, he doesn't know how to deal with.]

[It's... working, that much is blatantly apparent when he goes back to focusing on the soulless shinki, but he knows it's not much on his end as much as Kairi's prodding. So, more than glad that he's inept at such connections, he stays silent and just does the job he's here for. Hopefully whatever Kairi is doing continues to work.]

[She tried, and she was still blighted so badly that her god released her. Perhaps after they had tried to cleanse her blight, and failed, for her guilt at having failed prevented her from being saved --

That is a stab of sympathy he feels, although not a strong enough one to overcome the chilly distance that keeps his borderline intact, and certainly not enough of one to make him want to spare her the pain of the purification eating away at her blight.

This time, though, when he speaks to back up Kairi's words, his tone is gentler.]

You did what you could.

[And it wasn't enough, but that's not her fault. The spell that reduced her to a shell of herself, the god who didn't know what to do with a 'soulless' shinki blighted beyond easy cleansing... those aren't her fault, either, though Hakkai's fury at them still burns hot.

She's the one who needs to let go. He's almost gentle when he continues.]

Forgive yourself. Forgive your god.

[Because gods, too, can do wrong.]

[So that's what it was.

Izumo listens to Kairi talk to the shinki, listening to the shinki talk back to her. In a way, he can feel for her, but it does nothing to deter Izumo from his stance.

It's interesting listening to Hakkai talk, to keep his voice gentle when he gets the feeling he's anything but.

He decides to keep quiet, watching as the blight is slowly cleansed.]

[Goten frowns, more so when Kairi sinks to her knees. He keeps a hand on her but remains standing himself. He can see things easier now though he doesn't completely understand how this happened. Ayakashi can't come to the Far Shore, he thought. Would a god really let go of a shinki because of blight? Goten bites his bottom lip before stepping up beside Kairi, still being sure to stay close to her. With a deep breath, Goten stomps his foot down.]

Hakkai's right! Both him and Kairi are super smart so you should listen to them! If you did your best then that's all you could do! Not all Gods and Shinki stay together forever.... I bet you'll find another god even better that really needs your help! You just gotta keep going and get stronger from it!

[Goten nods, trying his best to be encouraging. She'll find a better god, but this has to work first. She has to help them save her.]

"Get stronger? ... So I can..."

[Kairi nods at her encouragingly.]

Hakkai and Goten are right - please forgive yourself, and your god. It can't feel good right now, being blighted that much - I've been blighted only a little before and it hurt a lot. This much must be even worse - you're in pain, your god was probably in pain too.

[The Soulless shinki nods and winces as more of the blight starts to peel off of her skin.]

"Sorry... I couldn't... protect... I'm sorry..."

[Kairi gets up and hugs Goten, pulling him up into her arms before turning back to the Soulless shinki. Goten certainly would know about finding a better god, and dealing with blight too.]

That's what matters most. Learning from our mistakes - even without our memories to guide us.

[The Soulless shinki does stay on her knees, falling against the borderline wall with her knees tucked up and wimpering through the pain, but slowly the blight does manage to go away. It takes more than a half an hour due to her blight getting so bad at the tail end, but it's not the worse case a shinki's ever come back from either.]

Edited 2017-03-18 18:08 (UTC)

[The blight leaving is all that Chikusa cares about. So long as that's happening, he seems fine with standing and waiting for as long as he needs to. In this case, that's half an hour, but he can manage that.]

[Finally, when it seems like the majority is gone, he glances to Hakkai.]

Is it good enough, then...?

[Hakkai's gaze flickers to the soulless shinki on her hands and knees inside their barrier, gasping for breath as the last dark blight-bruises fade from her face and neck. He modulates his tone to gentleness.]

Are you yourself again?

[Or: as much herself as she has left in her? His gaze lingers on the bruises. Almost -- and the last one he can see is gone.]

[The shinki seems to be doing better--the last of the blight leaving her body.

Izumo glances over at Hakkai before looking back at the shinki, watching as she lifts her head to look at them.]

[Goten holds onto Kairi, leaning against her as he peeks out to look at the blighted shinki---who seems to be getting better and better. So it is working! Hakkai, Izumo and Hat-Guy are amazing! Kairi too! He smiles a little seeing the blight leave her body but how do they know when to let her out?]

I think she's gonna be okay, you guys...!

[Kairi sighs with relief when the last of the blight disappears a little more than a half hour later.]

You did it - you really survived all of that. You should be so proud of yourself.

[She's still sitting on the ground with the Soulless shinki on the other side of the barrier, who has started to go quiet again. She starts looking up at the barrier and pressing her hands against it.]

I think we're ready to get the Borderlines down now.

[She looks up expectantly at the trio.]

[Chikusa's attention is on Hakkai right now and, at the first sign of agreement to Kairi's statement, he silently lets down his borderline as well.]

[....Still prepared to lash out if they're wrong, however.]

[Hakkai's gaze flicks over the shinki, looking for any lingering hint of blight, before he lets his borderline flicker to nothing and straightens up, dusting his hands off. He steps forward and offers a hand up to the girl.]

You should be able to stay here for now.

[Tilting his head to the side, Izumo allows his Borderline to drop, hand dropping down to his side.

He allows Hakkai to talk to the girl, though he does glance over at Kairi and Goten, double-checking them to make sure they were all right.]

[So the shinki is going to be okay? The ablution worked? Of course it did with Izumo and Hakkai's borderlines! Hat-Guy's borderline looked pretty good too! Goten expected no less even when things did get a little scary there. But Kairi's words are reasurring and he believes her. This shinki-lady is going to be okay. No one is hurt either.

He grins once their borderlines drop and jumps into the air, floating there as he flips around with arms spread and cheering.]

Yay! It worked~! It worked~! Yeah! You did it lady! Everything is going to be okay!

Yes, I think she's going to be okay, Goten.

[Kairi is likewise ready to jump up and down for joy, but she's also a little emotionally exhausted in a way she didn't expect. She wasn't one of the people casting the spell, so she should be fine... but maybe she can figure it out later.]

I'll come and check on you tomorrow, okay?

[She puts a hand on the Soulless Shinki's shoulder.]

Try to get some rest.

[Kairi, as usual, can handle the emotional aspects. Chikusa is just gonna…. Sink to the floor here and let out a sigh. And this was just supposed to be a normal walk…. But there are more important things to consider. His head lolls so that he’s looking at Hakkai.]

So there are ayakashi on the Far Shore…

So it seems. [Hakkai exhales, and crosses his arms. It seems that Kairi's taking care of the soulless shinki, for which he is selfishly very glad; while he does feel sympathy for them, they are also often uncomfortable to be around.

Being responsible for Banri's health is enough soulless shinki in his life.

He glances at Chikusa.]

I don't think they're supposed to be able to get here, but it happens, from time to time.

[And the last time he remembers it happening, the ayakashi had been released here. Deliberately. His forehead creases with a thoughtful frown as he glances back at the newly cured girl.]

[Closed] Agony's torn at the heart too long

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Wrap Round if you'd like, and after this we can go ad hoc wrapping up

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