016 | The Good Old Days

[godsoffortune]

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~

Comments

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak tilts her head to the side, thinking about it. She's really not sure...]

How old do you think I am?

[solaris9]

Uh.....a hundred?

[ You'll have to give him some slack...this is a kid who wasn't sure how long 500 years was.. ]

[bussounoshima]

... You better treasure that cute face, kid, you're going to be relying on it a lot in life.

[If she were a vainer woman and Goku was slightly less cute, he might get a smack for that one. As it is, it's fine.]

Let's go with a hundred and nine. It sounds a little better.

[solaris9]

​[ She said she was old, so Goku picked a real big number. Though he supposes a thousand would be a safer guess. What she says about treasuring his face confuses him a bit, however. He crinkles his brow for a second before he just nods and says: ]

Okay!

I'm uh...I dunno. I just woke up. [ Does that make him zero? He doesn't feel zero, though. ]

How old do you think I am? [ He straightens himself up a little, trying to look taller. ]

[bussounoshima]

Hmm... [Sharak puts her hand flat on top of Goku's head and then moves it toward her to measure his height (possibly giving him a few extra inches as she does).]

You're pretty big, but you're probably still a kid so... How does one hundred and three sound to you?

[solaris9]

[ A hundred and three. Sounds about right! Goku nods importantly. ]

Sure. [ And now that that's decided: ]

I'm Goku. What's your name?

[bussounoshima]

[Goku gets to be flattered. Sharak guessed much younger than his actual age, after all.]

I am the 28th of Arhat, Sharak Sanzo. It's nice to meet you, Goku.

[solaris9]

Twenty-eighth of a hat?

[ Cool! How do you become one of those? ]

[bussounoshima]

... Sharak Sanzo.

[Come on, Goku, you can do it.]

[solaris9]

[ Hmmm, okay. And since Goku is Goku, even though it's Son Goku, then Shark Sanzo must be... ]

Sanzo!

[bussounoshima]

Or Sharak, whichever you prefer.

["Sanzo" is fine. She won't be snooty and suggest "Sanzo-sama" or something. Look, it's her name too.]

You can really call me whatever you want.

[solaris9]

[ Names are important, Goku thinks. Especially if it's the only thing you have, like with him. It must be kinda fun to have lots of names. ]

I guess Sanzo, then.

[ He likes the sounds of it, okay? He's not sure how come. ]

What happened to the other twenty...um. The rest of the hats?

[bussounoshima]

[Maybe it feels familiar, subconsciously, Sharak thinks with a small stab of guilt. Signs point to the memories still being there, after all, just buried. Well, it is her name. They can figure it out when Genjo shows up again.]

The 27th of Arhat was my predecessor... The person who named me. [That's the simplest way to explain it, right?] He passed away several years ago. The other twenty six are gone as well, I never met them.

[And she can say that calmly because it was a long time ago and there's no need to go into the details. Not to a child.]

[solaris9]

[ As far as Goku is concerned, Sanzo's the only Sanzo in existence. So she gets to be the first one, and the other one(s) (if he should meet any) will forever be The Other Sanzo(s)... unless he gets his memories back?)

Predecessor sounds very important-like. Goku isn't exactly sure what it means, but he can at least tell he was important to her. Anyone who gets to name someone has got to be, right? ]

You must've liked him lots. Sorry he's gone now. I don't remember who named me.

[bussounoshima]

He was... Something. [To say the least. Sanzo shakes her head.] It was a long time ago.

[And then she looks at Goku thoughtfully for a moment. The shinki never get to remember more than a name, but they still stay mostly the same.] ... Even if you don't remember them, you still remember your name. So long as you hold onto it, you're holding onto a part of them and keeping them with you.

[Names are heavy things. If anyone really wanted to achieve enlightenment, they'd do away with them all together. ]

You can keep that as long as you want it, without remembering anything else.

[solaris9]

[ He nods. Everyone's gotta be something. Goku thinks this makes sense.

And some people are just in his own imagination, like the one he can't remember who must've given Goku his name. He'd rather see them in real life instead of having to make them up, but at least he gets to keep his name. He smiles brightly. ]

I'll keep it all the time, then. Like you did.

[ For one hundred and nine years, after all the twenty-something hats before her. ]

[bussounoshima]

[Continued...]