[ Open ] With new power comes...

[welcome_home]

Who: Nanako and anyone inclined to be out exploring or who might notice a new mountain looming in the Far Shore.
When: July 12
Where: Nanshe's newly-discovered Temple
What: Nanako has discovered she has god powers after all! Now it's led her to finally discovering she has a temple here and it gives her the perfect place to try out some of the new things she can do.


A; To Find Shelter

[ It's been a little over a week since Nanako had discovered that she did indeed have a god power of her very own. Even if it had taken her awhile to get the hang of it. It was still taking her a while to get the hang of it, but today she's taken a break from practicing in the backyard of Souji's temple to go investigate something for herself.

Because she's felt a pull that's been growing stronger over the past few days, insistent and niggling and new. Since it hadn't faded or gone away, she'd decided this morning to follow it and see what she found.

Which is how she ends up at the base of a mountain not that long a walk away from Souji's temple. A mountain which she's very sure she's never seen before. She thinks? But there's a walled gate around its base that feels vaguely familiar to her, even if she doesn't know why. The gate stands wide open and welcoming, however, so she proceeds inside, heading up a long stone staircase to the shrine she finds at the top, brightly colored with banners waving and surrounded by a hillside full of blooming azalea bushes. The shrine itself is set beside a huge lake full of fat and lazy fish swimming within its depths.

And the more she explores of this place, the more certain she is - she's finally found Nanshe's temple. Her temple. Delighted, she starts poking into every inch of the shrine she can find, exploring all over it and seeing everything hidden within this new place. Eventually, she'll go looking for her brother and Homura, wanting to share with them her newest discovery, but if anyone else happens by in the meantime, she might excitedly show them around as well. ]

B; To Rise

[ The discovery of her very own temple means one thing for certain - it's given her a wide open space to keep practicing her new abilities. And since she now knows how to look for that tiny flicker of power that seems to blossom brighter each time she uses it, it's easy to flit back and forth between normal and the form her god power seems to give her - that of a halo and tiny wings and a bright cheerful glow that surrounds her every time it manifests.

She hasn't figured out yet if her power will allow her to fight evil spirits any better - especially when she doesn't know how to fight in the first place. But there are other uses to this power she's learning about. Like the fact that the tiny feathered wings on her back actually work, and as long as she can keep her focus steady, she can even manage to float for increasingly longer periods of time.

So of course this is what she's practicing, once she finds her own private mountaintop filled with colorful flowers, trees, and banners. Although it's with dubious success at first, she's determined to get better at it.

So, throughout various points of the day - and possibly the next few days - there's a tiny girl with angel wings floating, bobbing, and sometimes zooming around her shrine and occasionally even venturing outside her temple to see how far she can fly and how long she can manage it. Sorry, friends, her control isn't all that great yet... ]

Comments

[welcome_home]

[ She reaches out to catch his hands, grinning up at him ]

Then can I borrow you? I wanna show you something!

[socials]

[ Tilting his head back and forth, like it's some great moment of indecision for him or something, he squeezes her hands gently before stepping down to sit on the little step of the genkan so he can put his shoes on. ]

I don't have anything else planned for today, at least not until I do some parttime work, so consider me borrowed.

[welcome_home]

Yay! [ Hands thrown in the air, she waits for him to put his shoes on before reaching for his hand again. ]

I can poof us there if you're ready!

[ She's so good with these technical terms. ]

[socials]

[ These technical terms are perfect and he would fight for them.

But he gets his shoes laced up before he takes her hand, starting to stand again. ]

Ready, imouto.

[welcome_home]

Okay! But close your eyes! It's a surprise.

[ Squinting up at him, she waits until he does so before teleporting him just outside the gate to her temple before exclaiming excitedly, ] Okay, we're here!

[socials]

[ With his eyes closed, the impact of the temple is certainly greater.

Nanako says they're there, and the feeling of teleporting has faded, so Souji opens his eyes, figuring that's signal enough.

What slight, soft smile was on his face completely drops when he takes in the gate, his heart leaping straight into his throat, as if it can escape his chest this way. His eyes are round, and he tries to keep his fingers from tightening or slackening on Nanako's where they're still holding hands. Everything about this is - an aching sort of familiarity to him, something horrifying and straight from the worst month of his life. Nanako might not understand its familiarity, but he does.

He remembers carrying her body out of the dungeon. He remembers how weak she'd been, her strained and tired voice. He remembers how hard it was for her to speak, let alone breathe.

Her heart stopped, in the hospital.

Souji had almost let them push Namatame in the television, so wracked with grief. But it wouldn't have brought her back, and it wouldn't have been the right thing to do, not when the real cause of all of Inaba's strife was still out there. It was like that choice alone was rewarded, too - when the doctors had told them that she was okay, that they resuscitated her, he'd nearly fallen to his knees.

That memory is the one that has him gently tightening his hold on Nanako's tiny hand, warm and alive in his. It gives him the strength to swallow the knot in his throat. ]

So what's this?

[welcome_home]

[ He might have fooled her if she'd stayed caught up in the excitement of her new temple, but she'd been focused intently on him, wanting to show it off with pride. It's impossible to miss the spasm of emotions that chase across his face, dampening her excitement with sudden alarm as she peers up at him in concern. ]

Onii-chan? Are you okay? What's wrong?

[socials]

[ His heart is still clenched tight, even if he's managed to push it down from where it'd locked in his throat, and Souji takes a deep breath that turns into a laugh and a smile. He's spent years wearing masks, and maybe they don't fit quite so snugly as they once did when he was nothing but fake words and pleasantries to get him through another month or months or year before he moved again, but they still work well enough when he needs them.

They worked until he had tried to tell Dojima the truth of what was going on, and then even the truth had failed. They had both failed Nanako.

They had almost lost Nanako. ]

I'm jealous, look how pretty this place is. [ He looks down at her again. ] You're not going to be moving out, are you? I'd be awfully sad if you did.

[ he can't do this, he can't, he can't imagine Nanako here alone. Not again, never again - ]

[welcome_home]

[ She doesn't believe him.

There's something behind that laugh that isn't quite right, something in the way he answers that reminds her a little of how her dad had often tried to tell her something when he thought she was too little too understand.

But there's also something in the way he asks that question that rings true and she's quick to fling her arms around his waist, burying her face against his stomach as she hugs him tightly. ]

No! I'm not going anywhere, onii-chan! Don't be sad. I promise I won't leave. I like staying with you!

[socials]

[ Souji is no fool - he's worked with kids the entire year that he'd spent in Inaba, getting to know them, learning who they were as people, and he's been with Nanako just as long. They're smarter than people give them credit for, and while some children don't have any level of empathy... Nanako does. Nanako can pick up on things, quiet and observant just like him and her father.

He knows she doesn't believe him, not entirely.

But the fact that she focuses on the more truthful part of the act is a relief, as much as it hurts. He leans down over her at first, before he goes to crouch in front of her, taking her face in his hands gently. ]

It's okay, Nanako. This is your temple, right? We can spend lots of time here together, just like we do at mine, and we'll bring all your friends here.

[welcome_home]

[ She stares at him a moment before shaking her head. ]

But it made you upset. We don't have to go if you don't like it.

[socials]

How about you show me the rest, first? Before we make a decision.

[ Because if he can just get away from these gates, he can forget that they're there. He can pretend this isn't a reminder of why the last Heaven he went to was an actual hell for him. ]

[welcome_home]

[ She searches his face for a moment before taking his hands once more, squeezing his fingers in hopes of reassuring him. ]

Okay. If you're sure? [ When he seems to be, she gives him a tug through the gates and up the stone stairs. ]

It's really pretty, onii-chan. There's pretty flowers and a big lake that has lots of fish in it! You can go fishing in it, if you want?

[socials]

[ Souji looks back at her, smiling softly, letting her look at him before he squeezes her hands in return. ]

I'm sure. I trust my sister, after all. [ But he follows after her once he's ready, closing his eyes as they pass through the gates. Now that he knows where her temple is, he never has to go through them, not ever again, because he can just... teleport into the inner area of it. That's fine. ]

I'd like that, actually. I've been looking for places to go fishing.

[welcome_home]

Homura said she wants to go fishing there sometime, too. Maybe you can teach her!

[ Nanako keeps a tight grip on his hand as she leads the way up the stairs and through the bright arches until the hillside comes into view, covered with bright azalea bushes and the shrine nestled beside a quiet lake.

She points at it excitedly. ] There it is, onii-chan!

[socials]

She was talking to me about it at the school when we visited. I'd like to teach her.

[ Souji waits a little longer before he opens his eyes, because the afterimage is enough for him, he doesn't need it right there for him to stare at. Looming, reminding him of how he'd almost lost Nanako.

So when he opens them, he can actually admire the shrine grounds. Even breathe a sign of relief, one that helps him smile again. ] This is beautiful, Nanako.