thenearshore | 016 | The Good Old Days

Entry tags:

016 | The Good Old Days

Who: Everyone!
What: Ageswapping
When: July 15-17
Where: Everywhere
Summary: A breach in the space-time continuum is messing things up.

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!

The Far Shore has been dealing with a lot of space-time pulsating through the past week or so and everything is culminating on the night of the 15th, even though the Heavens are preparing for an all-out Obon bash. They had planned to have the celebration on the 15th itself, but Amaterasu asked to postpone a day due to the horrible feeling that is permeating the Far Shore.

And it turns out she was right to postpone everything. In fact, it will have to be postponed another whole month at this rate...

Before

Late in the day on July 15th, the new batch of shinki will arrive to a Far Shore with a thick, tense atmosphere. All night on the 15th it feels like something is about to happen - and it's difficult to tell whether that something will be good or bad. Any attempts to contact the management of the Far Shore have fallen on deaf, slightly harried ears and so everyone is left to their own devices to try and figure out why things are so tense.

July 16

Just after midnight, an explosive shock wave rips through the Far Shore, bringing on the age changes with it. Even the spirits of the Far Shore seem to be affected - for example, the library goblins are either toddling around on wobbly legs or are dragging themselves from place to place and looking decrepit. There are a few gods and shinki that seem to have been exceptions from the change, though it is not clear why.

July 17

Another wave of energy comes in the early morning of the 17th. Fewer people are affected this time and it seems to alter those people's ages a second time. There is no rhyme or reason to who is being affected further. Several of the library goblins have just dropped dead from severe old age. Oops.

Aftermath

Late on the 17th brings about one final burst from the energy that has been plaguing the Far Shore. For a short moment, every new temple glows with a soft light, seeming to beckon to their owners. But the light is gone quickly and everyone will find themselves back to normal with complete memories of everything that happened during their age adventures. The goblins that died, though, are still very dead. Looks like the library will need to get some new help soon.

In Summary:

Meet the newbies
Get aged or de-aged
Deal with other too young/too old people
Try to handle the consequences
Have fun~

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[There's a wide-eyed look at Nanako for a moment when she says Shun's name, because unsurprisingly, he has all kinds of theories as to why that might be the case.] How did you know my name? Are you magic or something?

[He's getting a bit old to believe in magic, but he's seen all kinds of things since he woke up, so thinking she's magic is definitely the kind of mature seven-year-old decision he can make in confidence.

Once he remembers she asked him an actual question, though, he shakes his head.] I eat lots of things, so it should be okay.

Ahh... [ Right. So he's not one of the ones who remembers her, then. No matter, she gives him a warm - if sheepish - smile. ] Something like that, I guess you could say. Magic is probably the easiest way of explaining it.

[ Although she wants to ask what magic it is that has him answering that. ] Lots of things, huh? That's good to know. We'll definitely be able to find you something, then. Shall we go look? [ And she offers her hand to him in invitation to lead him into the shrine where she's got more lunches stacked in preparation for whoever else she finds today. ]

So you're a mysterious magic lady, too. [Tiny Shun is eying her with obvious curiosity, but if the mysterious magic lady's secrets are really complicated anyway, maybe he should just ask her another time. He has a lot on his mind already.

Once she offers her hand, Shun takes it without hesitation. He's used to leading his sister around, but he's also got no problem being led around himself.] Okay! Have you been making lunches all day? I've met a lot of really confused people, but you look like you know things.

[Not necessarily things about what's going on, just...things.]

'Too'? Have you met many of them today?

[ Nanako sounds amused at that prospect as she leads him over to her temple and where the supplies of bentos she'd gotten ready this morning are still stacked. ] Not all day, but I set aside some time this morning to make them. I thought everyone would have their hands full today and it might help. You're right that there's a lot of confused people. I can't do much about that yet, but I could at least help with this.

Mmm, here we go. There's a couple different kinds, but you can pick any of them that looks good to you, okay?

No. I just meant that you're magic, but mysterious too. [Clearly he needs to learn to use his words better. Though he has met some weird and cool people today, so it's been pretty good as far as he's concerned.

Once she explains what she's been doing, the little Shun looks up at her with an admiring air.] You're really responsible, lady. Looking after people is important, especially when they're confused. [Very serious nod. Apparently small Shun has some thoughts on this subject.

When she invites him to pick a bento, he looks over them thoughtfully for a moment before carefully picking one up - there's egg and a few other things in it.] What's this one?

I like helping to look after people. That's what we're supposed to do as gods, after all. But I would enjoy it even if I wasn't.

[ She leans over to peer at the one he's selected before quickly naming off what was inside it, glancing down to catch his reaction. ]

Does that sound alright to you or should we keep looking?

[Shun's eyes go very wide at that.] You're a god? Is that why you knew my name?

[Yeah, so he might have run into both the other residents of his temple earlier, but he apparently didn't get re-filled in on the god thing. He's mostly just been running around with very little care in the world since then.

When Nanako lists the contents of the box, Shun thinks hard on it for a moment before nodding.]

There's some stuff I don't know if I've had, but trying new things is good, so I'm gonna do it.

I am! [ Even though she lets that second question go for now, because how do you explain that to a kid? ] I'm the goddess Nanshe.

I'm glad you like trying new things. You never know when you'll find something new you enjoy. [ There might be a hint of laughter in her tone, but it's warm and fond. She's trying to imagine having this conversation with an older Shun and just... Welp. ]

What does she do? [This is a god Shun hasn't heard of before, which immediately means this is new and interesting information he wants to know. Gods do all sorts of things, right?

There's an enthusiastic nod in reply to what she says about new things, the amusement going unnoticed.] That's right. You have to know stuff before you can decide you don't like it.

She was from a country that existed a very long time ago. People prayed to her for help during many of the wars that occurred there. She looked after widows and orphan and anyone who was hurt or lost by the wars.

[ Which was the simple explanation of some of her duties, although they often extended beyond that as well. These were the ones, however, that Nanako had taken most deeply to heart, although she gave all the areas of Nanshe's dominion her attention. ]

I think that's very smart of you. You'll never know what delight you might find by accident when trying something new.

[That sounds kind of sad, but Shun keeps smiling nonetheless, because there is a silver lining.] It's good that they had someone to look after them. It would be really sad to be left all alone and hurt by something like that.

[He can't imagine something like that happening to anyone he knows, but there must still be a lot of people who need it.

He grins a little at the compliment.] I like being smart about things. That's why I've been trying to learn stuff about this place.

[ She gives him an understanding smile. ] I think it would be sad too. It's why I try my hardest to listen for the prayers of those who are lonely or lost. If I can help, even if it's only a little, maybe it will make a difference for someone.

[ She laughs softly at his answer, looking pleased. ] I can see you do. So tell me, what have you learned that you find interesting?

I hope it does too. Maybe they're just waiting for someone to hear them. [It's still all very odd and confusing to Shun, but he can relate to wanting to help people, so he has to think that her actions are doing good.

Shun has to think for a second about that question before raising his hand.] Everyone has really cool weird houses. Or temples, or whatever.

[ His answer gets a laugh from her as she nods. ]

Well, I can't argue that, there are some pretty strange and unique ones. And every single one of them is different. It's one of my favorite things, to go exploring and see what new ones I can find. Did you find any you liked?

Um... [He has to think on that a little bit, but eventually he nods.] My hill thing was really cool, and I met another kid outside a house that was kind of like a little castle but also still a big house, and then another kid with a really big fancy castle.

[So that's definitely informative. Ren and Hibiki's temples aren't the only ones he's seen, but they are the ones he remembers most right now.]

[ Continued here. ]

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016 | The Good Old Days

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