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thenearshore2017-04-06 12:09 am
[ Closed ]
Who: Add & Jakob
Where: An orphanage in the Near Shore
When: July 2
What: Prayer #30
Warnings: Violence, hallucinations, abandonment issues, Add…
Though their latest mission seems a grim one—especially in light of Jakob’s more recently recovered memories—he nevertheless steels himself for the task ahead, this time confident that nothing can go wrong. Ever since he and Add had established some sort of rapport together he’d felt much more relaxed, as if he’d become that much more in tune with his master’s intentions.
And it is freeing to know that, if you’re not expecting the worst of your master at every single moment, then even jobs like this become that much more…pleasant.
“The orphanage should be close by,” he remarks, taking note of their more peaceful, suburban surroundings. Soon, a nondescript building looms ahead, and though there are no signs declaring that it is, in fact, an orphanage, it matches the description Jakob had found online. Despite its best efforts to look like anything but what it is—a shameful aberration of society nestled within the upright middle-class suburbs—the orphanage still looks a good deal more cheerful than the doorstep of that great, imposing castle from his memories.
It’s hard not to wonder at what any child must have felt at coming to this place, knowing they’ll never see their parents again.
He pauses before they reach the threshold, fighting back that horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach at the memory, before pressing a hand to his temples and taking a deep breath.
“My apologies. Please follow me.”
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Add almost bumps into Jakob when he stops, lost in his own thoughts. He gives his shinki a confused look before recalling his behaviour from the last prayer they answered. He wouldn't expect Jakob to be nervous about facing an ayakashi, so... could this have something to do with what he remembered as well?
He stares for a moment longer before sighing, pushing ahead of Jakob to open the doors to the building before them. Whatever it is, he'll have to remember to ask about it later. Right now, they have a job to do.
"There's supposedly an ayakashi around here somewhere, so don't let your guard down," he says, recalling what little information they received about this prayer beforehand. "Borderlines will be more useful than ordinary weapons. We'll need to find out what we're dealing with before we can dispose of it, so say something if you notice anything unusual at all. It could look like anything."
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“Wait.” He quickly catches up to Add, reaching for the door. “Let me go in first. There’s no telling what might be in there.” Beyond the receptionist at her desk, looking quite bored as she fiddles with the visitor records.
Besides, she’ll be more impressed with a well-dressed gentleman than Add, at least. Easier to get answers that way.
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But it's really not worth making a fuss over. He takes a step back, letting go of the door handle so Jakob can take the lead.
... and as soon as his back is turned, Add opens a portal and steps through that instead, emerging inside the building right next to the door. Just because he can. Try and tell him what to do...!!
"Well, this room seems to be fine," he comments with a wide grin. "Shall we head deeper in?"
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“Do be serious about this,” Jakob reprimands him, keeping his voice low but firm. Now might not be the best time to call attention to themselves with ayakashi lurking in the premises…honestly, as much as Jakob tends to brag about his abilities as a butler, Add is really making his job a lot harder than it has to be, what with Jakob having to potentially corral both his master and ayakashi and the orphanage’s children.
At the very least it’s taking his mind off of the sadder memories. He decides that it’s safe to take his eyes off of Add for a moment to survey their surroundings, as if to confirm Add’s own assessment.
“I’ve made an appointment to meet with the children before we’d arrived here,” he says at last, turning to the receptionist. “We’ll be escorted to them in short order.”
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"Lighten up a little," he teases, stepping aside to let Jakob lead for real this time. "Besides, you're forgetting that I'm a god. Attacks from the front won't be effective." Has he ever bothered to explain his clairvoyance to Jakob...? Probably not, but oh well. That just makes it easier to spy on him.
Clairvoyance also makes it easier to scope out an area before they arrive, not that he was able to catch sight of the supposed ayakashi. He didn't think of making any appointments, though. Breaking in is only a minor inconvenience when most can't see them anyway, but admittedly it would make it easier to get everyone in one place... perhaps the ayakashi would show itself if they gathered all of its targets together?
"Hmmmm, not bad. Alright, since you seem to have a plan you can take the lead for now."
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“Very well,” he replies, bristling a little because of course he’s taking the lead here. He’s not going to let Add do the talking after what happened in their last prayer. Although last he’d checked up on that guy he’d been in therapy and was doing well…
But that’s neither here nor there. Jakob had been planning on interviewing both the children and the staff to ferret out the hidden ayakashi somehow—surely someone or the other must have noticed something strange. And this seemed…the better method of spying things out, as he’d learned from Hakkai a few months back.
Irritating as the guy had been, he kind of had a point.
So Jakob chats up the receptionist and they’re both led to a playroom where the walls are dolled up in bright colors and cartoon animals and the floors are all soft and padded with similarly colorful foam puzzles. A cheerful place, no doubt, made all the cheerier by the sight of small children playing with toys and each other, making a ruckus as children are wont to do. They are introduced to this rowdy bunch as prospective parents and are then left alone, the receptionist hurrying off, muttering about more people waiting for them in the lobby.
It’s probably nothing. And anyway, Jakob has to brace himself and try to rethink his usual approach. He has no problem talking down to children, oh no—he does that to everybody. But talking to them and getting them to trust him? Easier said than done. He casts a glance sideways at Add.
“I’ll do the talking here. You may sit back and observe as you usually do.”
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Add isn't too confident in his ability to deal with children, either, so he's more than happy to let Jakob handle things for now. He nods, taking a step back and leaning against his dynamos to "observe" as his shinki put it. He summons a small blue cube in his hand, turning it slowly in the air to check on a few other rooms deeper in the building.
So far, nothing unusual. The ayakashi must have a hiding place somewhere... it'd be easier if they had a better idea of what it looked like or how big it was, but the prayer wasn't terribly specific. The only information they have is that there's been a complete lack of adoptions in the past few weeks along with the ayakashi reports. The building appears to be completely clean so far, though.
"Does it hide somewhere else...?" he mutters to himself as he flips the cube around some more. It could be hard to find if it's not actually here... hopefully they won't have to wait for too long for it to appear. But if it's coming from outside the building, could someone else be bringing it in? He frowns, looking up from his cube.
"Ask them if they've had any issues with the staff or visitors recently," he suggests. Just because Jakob is taking the lead doesn't mean Add can't be a backseat driver.
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shoujo mangagood book every so often…"I was just about to!" Jakob huffs, turning away from a little boy he'd been conversing with. Unfortunately, he has none of Hakkai's charm and personal magnetism when it comes to children, and they are all very wary of this incredibly formal gentleman asking them some very pointed questions about any strange happenings in their vicinity.
"As I was saying," he continues, turning back to the child, "Have you met anyone strange, lately? Are the people who look after you behaving normally? How many people have come to see you over the past week? Please describe them for me in detail, if you would…"
The bombardment of questions might be too much, as is the intense gaze Jakob's giving him—he can hide his uncertainties behind a veneer of stern professionalism, after all, though that doesn't often do him any good.
Meanwhile, in the lobby, another pair of prospective parents is welcomed by a receptionist, who meets their eyes and suddenly loses all of that effusive cheer she'd put on for the sake of the visitors. Instead of registering the names of the newcomers, she takes a slow, lumbering step back, as if her limbs are no longer her own, and proceeds to lead them further inside of the building, toward the playroom where Jakob is already turning to interrogate another small child.
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Add huffs back, because clearly that was his idea and Jakob just wants to take credit for it. But sure, whatever, Jakob's taking the lead today. He continues to fidget with his floating cube, frowning sternly at his shinki's interrogation techniques.
It's obvious that Jakob's approach isn't going to work here—the kid looks nervous and keeps giving vague, worthless answers, so they obviously don't understand the seriousness of the situation. If this keeps up they'll probably clam up completely, or worse, tell the staff these adults are harassing them.
Add can't take any more of this. He sighs loudly, deciding that it's time to step in. He walks the short distance over to another group of small children, crouching down to speak more on their level. He pauses to make sure his eyes are "normal" before waving to try and get their attention, speaking in a slightly low voice.
"Hey, listen to me, this is very important. There's a monster around here, the other adults can't see it but you might have noticed some of them acting strangely. We're here to get rid of it for you, but first we need to know who it might be controlling. If you don't cooperate then it's going to eat all of you, so it's in your best interest to—"
And then one of the little girls bursts into tears, startling Add and destroying what little confidence he had in his ability to manage this situation. He's desperately trying to calm the kid back down (stop that, you're making too much noise, the monster won't eat you if you stop crying) when the door behind them opens, the receptionist standing aside to welcome in the new guests...
The cheerful atmosphere of the room dies as each child lays eyes on the new "parents", laughter falling into an eerie silence. Wrapped tightly around the shoulders of one of the parents is an enormous cobra, dozens of unblinking eyes covering its wide neck. Though it remains invisible to the children, the oppressive aura it radiates is impossible to ignore.
Except for Add and the poor girl he upset. He's too busy failing to console her to notice the ayakashi is staring right at them, flicking its tongue curiously as it tries to decide which of the heavenly appetizers would be more delicious.
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Which Jakob can’t claim to having, because the moment Add frightens a child into tears Jakob realizes that he hasn’t been watching his master well enough and is quick to turn away from his own quarry to yell at him—
“What are you doing? I thought I told you to supervise—”
He turns around, ready to chew Add out for stepping out of line and possibly ruining their chances of discovering the ayakashi, before his eyes fall upon a multitude of eyes staring back at him, and suddenly, all thoughts of scolding his god have gone.
The sudden silence doesn’t register, and he no longer even hears the crying of the child Add had upset. Something reaches back into his mind, snatching at the one memory he has of his former life and grasping at it, filling his thoughts with that single, bitter memory. In a way it had made him more accepting of his afterlife in the Far Shore—surely this god won’t abandon him.
But right now he’s not seeing his god. Right now he sees nothing at all, except for the cold gaze of his parents, staring back at him where he’d caught a glimpse of Add only a moment earlier.
“You…” he starts, rises to his feet. Something throbs painfully in his head, as if all his thoughts are being emptied out, until he can feel nothing but the rage and misery he’d felt at that one memory. His eyes are clouded over, and a dark miasma clings to him as he lumbers forward, his limbs being pulled toward Add as if tugged by puppet strings.
“How dare you show yourself to me, after all these years!”
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"I have this under control, would you stop trying to distract me from—" ... and just like magic, the girl's bawling turns into a quiet sniffle before fading away entirely. For a split second Add is confused, shortly followed by a wave of smugness as he stands up straight again. He's too relieved at the silence to notice what the girl is now staring at with wide, empty eyes. "See? I told you, I have it all under control, keke."
But the brief moment of success doesn't last long. It's when Jakob suddenly starts barking at him in that aggressive tone that Add finally turns, his own eyes going wide when he spots the large ayakashi at the other end of the room. Add freezes, barely registering what his shinki is rambling about (probably still yelling about that kid he scared or whatever).
All of the creature's eyes are locked on Jakob. Slowly, it starts to unravel itself from its current host...
Add reflexively steps forward, waving an arm to draw a border between them—but of course nothing happens because he's not a fucking shinki anymore. He curses under his breath before grabbing at Jakob's arm, trying to both get his attention and pull him out of the way.
"What are you doing?! It's right there, draw a border you idiot!"
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“I don’t take orders from the likes of you” is about all the warning Add gets before Jakob draws out a knife and points it straight at his master’s throat. Up close even his eyes have taken on that oddly glazed cast as the rest of the children and adults in the room, but there’s a certain fire that burns beneath the ayakashi’s grip on him, nevertheless, and it’s going to be used to Add’s disadvantage if he doesn’t move out of the way in time.
“What right have you to show your faces here after all this time? Leave now before I escort you out of the premises myself. And I assure you, I won’t make it painless.”
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But the cause of all this isn't hard to figure out. His eyes dart between the approaching ayakashi and his disgruntled shinki. That glazed-over look, and the wisps of dark smoke billowing around him... Add directs his glares at the snake, a crackle of electricity building around him.
"Whatever you've done to him, I'm going to make you regret it!" he snarls, though whether the creature can understand him or not is questionable.
The ayakashi seems to pause at his words, flicking its tongue thoughtfully at the air... but in the next moment it's done uncoiling itself from the previous host. It's almost fascinating how a snake that large can weave effortlessly through a room full of toys and entranced children in the blink of an eye, if it weren't for who it's targeting. A piercing hiss fills the air as it lunges forward, rearing its head back before descending down on Jakob—
But instead of devouring anyone, a jagged portals cracks open directly above Jakob's head, just barely large enough for the snake's head to fit into. The rest of its body thrashes as it tries to free itself.
... That's not going to hold for very long. Add hisses out a strained breath, bringing his gaze back down to Jakob while trying to keep the portal clamped shut.
"I don't know what you think you're seeing right now, but this is not the time to be fooling around! Snap out of it!"
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Yet he still doesn’t lower that knife.
“So you think me a fool, eh?” He takes a step toward Add and away from the portal keeping the ayakashi at bay, still keeping his weapon trained at his master as he brusquely shoves motionless children aside with his other hand, his body language filled with deadly intent.
“How does it feel now, to be left alone and abandoned in the midst of strangers? What sort of people would do that to a mere child? Answer me!”
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It's not until he utters those last few words that the rest of the puzzle starts to click into place. What sort of people would do that to a mere child?
He lets out a small gasp, eyes wide with realization. An abandoned child...
Ah. Well, if that's the reason he can hardly blame him for reacting with such anger. Add's expressions settles into a hardened mask, his own anger beginning to stew alongside his shinki's.
He'll ask about that later. For now—
The portal finally gives out, snapping shut with a loud crunch as the ayakashi yanks itself free, black smoke pouring up from the corners of its mouth. It sets its sights on Add. He looks up for only a split second before tearing his eyes away, not wanting to get caught in the same trap—but either way he doubts the creature is going to let him do as he pleases.
"You'll thank me for this later!" he shouts over the snake's deafening hiss, turning to Jakob with an outstretched hand. "Chaki!"
He just barely has enough time to grab the plate and hold it up before a stream of pitch-black fire spews down at him, blighting his fingertips while Jakob's vessel deflects the brunt of the attack. Because the only thing worse than a giant man-eating snake with hypnotic powers is one that can also breathe fire.
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To him it feels as though he’s been captured and tied up. The humiliation of that sudden capture is one thing, but when the ayakashi attacks he screams, black fire scorching through him as his parents laugh and laugh in his nightmares.
He tries to struggle free, but finds himself completely helpless and immobile, angry with himself for being so trapped, so…helpless. Never mind that he would’ve gladly taken the blow for his master had he remembered where he is.
“You—You cowards!” he cries out, a hint of desperation in his voice as he struggles against his imaginary bonds. “I’ll have your heads on a platter for this! I won’t let you get away; I won’t!”
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It doesn't help that Jakob is panicking so much, either. That desperation and helplessness... combined with everything else, it strikes far too close to home for him to be comfortable, and no matter how much he tries to stay calm it feels like he's being pushed to the edge of his limits. Like that first time Roxas put him in his vessel, terrified of the absolute power that could be used to control him... or worse, those deeply buried memories of what it's like to be chained up and abused, enslaved.
"I know exactly how you feel," he mutters only loud enough for Jakob to hear. Even if those words end up twisted against him...
The stream of fire finally comes to an end, his arms shaking as he's finally able to move again. His eyes focused away from the creature's head, Add takes two hasty steps backwards onto the platform of his dynamos. Well, now that he has the ayakashi's attention he can at least move this fight outside—closed quarters aren't good for his abilities, and it's probably a bad idea to be fighting in a room crowded with children. Add dives to the side right as the snake lunges again, gliding along the wall towards the closest window. The glass shatters with the sharp impact of a space crack before they reach it, and he shields his eyes with one arm as they pass through. The burst through the other side into the empty playground next to the building.
The ayakashi follows behind them only a moment later. Add spins around in the air to face it, still retreating backwards to give them a little more space—and, of course, holding up Jakob's vessel like the world's tiniest shield.
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He can still feel their laughter ringing in his ears as the world seems to tilt and there’s a sound of shattering impact somewhere in the distance, and he still feels every bit the child, the disowned nobleman—the orphan—with his life literally spiraling out of control as Add makes his way toward the playground and the ayakashi chases after him.
Orphans…
Something doesn’t feel quite right about all this, but before he can dwell on this he sees his parents approaching closer and closer. In the real world, the ayakashi takes on the guise of his parents as its eyes dart around, seeking a blind spot, before spewing out another stream of black fire—
And Jakob screams—“Don’t come any closer!”—his vessel form trembling just a smidge in Add’s grasp, but it’s enough to create a short-lived borderline, quickly repelling the creature gaining on them.
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If he's using his borders against the right enemy, maybe Jakob is starting to break free from the illusion? Add can only hope, but now seems like the best time to launch a counterattack. Once the flames start to fade again he pulls his shinki back with one arm, swooping in low to the ground to try and line up a shot...
He doesn't get much time to aim before the snake is after him again, though. He flings the plate forward like a frisbee, hissing out the end of the chant to charge it with killing-force— "Rend!"
And... well, it's not a perfect throw, but it clips the edge of the ayakashi's jaw, slicing through at least a third of his body before the plate flies off course. The monster screeches in agony, writhing in the air. Its body bulges grotesquely right before it crashes into the group, exploding into a burst of dark energy that's swiftly converged into a purifying light.
Add sighs, watching to ensure the ayakashi's destruction before gliding over to where Jakob ended up. The dark smoke wafting up from the plate is starting to disperse now as well...
"Are you back to normal?" he asks, an edge of concern in his voice. He doesn't move to pick up his shinki, either, so hopefully Jakob isn't too uncomfortable on the ground. The last thing he should be doing right now is spreading more blight around.
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He finds that he still doesn’t have complete control over his body, but it doesn’t matter at the moment. He feels strangely…light, as if all his thoughts and his cares are somehow lifting from his shoulders, from his mind, and as Add flings him forward Jakob feels a certain renewed energy welling up inside of him, likewise charging forward at the fading visage of his parents, until…
Light, then nothing. At least for a few moments, before Add’s voice breaks through, and Jakob feels at once heavy and detached from his surroundings, as if he is just waking up from a bad dream.
“Gods, my head…” he mutters, before letting out a gasp. “Add! The orphans, they’re—”
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Everyone seems to have snapped out of whatever trance the ayakashi had them under. Several children are now bawling, the confused parents are desperately trying to calm them down, and the receptionist appears to be in the middle of calling the police to report a pair of knife-wielding maniacs that escaped through the window...
Add returns to his shinki's side with some haste. "We should probably leave," he says, and after a pause remembers to add, "They're fine, don't worry about it. Can you walk, Jakob?"
The name should allow him to return to his normal body, so hopefully he didn't sustain too much damage. There were a few close calls, but that fight didn't go too badly...
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But he rises to his feet, shakily, and looks his god over, as if he might’ve been the one to sustain the injuries Jakob hadn’t gotten in his vessel form. Out of all the muddled memories and hallucinations he does recall one thing vividly—that he’d tried to attack someone. Repeatedly.
So he remains stubbornly where he is. “I tried to attack you,” he states, completely ignoring Add’s question.
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When Jakob stays still he sighs, pausing first to jump off of Dynamo. "You weren't in your right mind, so don't even start with me. Anyway, it turned out fine." Or as close to fine as any of their prayers have gone.
"Do you want to get arrested, or do I have to carry you back to the temple?" he asks again, this time in a more warning tone.
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“Very well. We will deal with this later.”
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"You remembered something. How long ago did that happen? You should've told me." He doesn't sound angry or upset, just curious. He does want to know more about shinki memories and how they could be recovered, but it was obviously something personal, so he can't blame Jakob for keeping it to himself. Still, "You don't have to give me all the details, but you should at least let me know if something like this happens again."
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“I simply woke up remembering, one day. I don’t know how it happened.” Let alone why. This is pretty much the last thing he ever wants to remember about his old life.
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There's some time before they reach the other end of the tunnel. The void surrounding them is dark and endless, broken up by distant black spheres and glittering fragments that look like crystals. They drift in silence for awhile, guided by the faint tug of reality drawing them back in.
"... Some people shouldn't be allowed to have children," Add mutters, staring blankly at a random space in the distance. "But... there are also good parents in the world. Whatever happened to them in the past, they deserve to find a place to belong."
He's referring to the orphans, of course.
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When Add breaks the silence Jakob turns to him, his own eyes glimmering with some emotion he can’t quite identify himself—agreement? sadness? wistfulness??—but then he turns away.
“I will keep tabs on them, of course.” He can’t really stand it when orphans or, indeed, any child has been mistreated. Besides, this is the only way he can assuage his own guilt of somehow having made those poor children cry.
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He can't think of anything else to say, so he leaves it at that. They eventually reach the end of the portal, falling out into... well, a very similar space, really, except more blue and full of the usual giant cubes. Now there's just one last thing to take care of...
"You go on ahead. I need to check on something." As if that isn't the laziest lie in the world, but he needs to find an illusion with water he can clean off his blight with. Better not to bring Jakob with him in case he notices and starts fussing.
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“Very well.” He’s probably off to build more of his strange doohickeys for all he knows. “I have other duties to attend to. Summon me if you need anything.”
And with that, he’ll proceed to a nearby illusion.