Science has gone too far!

[subtract]

Who: Anyone!
Where: Anywhere!
When: All of October 2nd
What: Add's experiment starts to affect the Far Shore, causing rifts and mutated ayakashi to begin appearing all over. Please refer to this post for details and questions.

Spatial Tears

The first few cracks are small, barely anything noticeable, but by morning the tears have widened enough to start leaking a chaotic and unsettling energy. Spend too much time around them and you'll start feeling strange. Memories get foggier, emotions start to run wild or go missing entirely... whatever's causing this, it's not good.

Luckily, magic seems to be enough to force them back, and a bit of holy water can seal up a weakened tear in no time. Better get to work!

Freak Ayakashi

Ayakashi are rare on the Far Shore, but not completely unheard of. The ones that linger too close to the tears receive a much more sinister effect compared to gods and shinki—the energy seeps into their bodies in the form of glowing blue patterns, granting the ayakashi even more strength and the power to spread more tears and corrupt energy with their blight. These ayakashi are aggressive and will attack heavenly beings on sight.

... but many of the ayakashi will be very familiar to the older of the outsider gods and shinki. A large number of small Noise ayakashi have ended up in the mix somehow, resembling the ones that escaped from the chocolates way back in March. They're small, but incredibly dangerous, and it'll take a coordinated attack to put any kind of dent on them.

Henir's Temple

A massive tear can be seen looming over Henir's temple, and it grows larger and larger as the day goes on. The temple grounds are a mess, and it seems like this might be the source of the trouble. Is there something inside the temple that might put a stop to all of this?

Later in the day, a piercingly bright golden triangle shines through the darkness of the giant rift. Whatever's going on in there, it's not just Add that's involved.

((If you want your character to investigate the temple, please contact me first! I can be reached on plurk at BlueFlewFedUQueen, by PM, or you can respond to the event OOC post. This is just to keep track of who's going where, so if you've already spoken to me about it in some capacity you're A-OK :|b))

Comments

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Asking you to help would be too much, wouldn't it.

[Zetta wonders, balefully, if this is passive-aggressive resistance, or if she's just naturally like this no matter what.]

[priforprince]

[ A vein twitches. ] I don't know a single thing about myself.

This is an important time for dramatic reflection!

[ There is still a Hibiki in there, somewhere. ]

[redmare]

Uhh, yeah, what Reisi-san said. How are we sure we're going to make it back here?

[It didn't exactly have the most welcoming feeling to it.]

Re: Henir's Temple

[royaltyloyalty]

It's your what? Shinki's vessel, temple, god power...?

[Someone in control of something like that outside of those options frankly strikes him as very Dr. Ni and that's troubling him.]

[royaltyloyalty]

[Doku shakes his head 'No' as he points generally in the direction of Add's temple.]

No guarantees of that, though. I've gotta try to get as close as possible to the source of the problem. It's the only way to figure out if that kid on the BBS is right about why this is all happening.

[Because he doesn't intrinsically believe Chikusa, but he also has a Big Problem with all of this happening in the general vicinity of his brother and the nagging feeling that if Add was capable of all of this, then the guy's original interest in Doku's god power wasn't as benign as he'd originally thought.]

[revolutionfalcon]

I don't think exposure to it is going to lead to anything good, but whatever's going on is coming from in there, and we're not going to get to the bottom of it from out here. We have a far better chance of making it back here together than we do apart.

[Reisi might be incredibly powerful, but he's also got plenty of gaps in his armour right now that could be taken advantage of, and there's no telling what's in there. And Chinatsu's merely human, and he only has the powers afforded to him as a god here.]

I'm going in, one way or another.

[diehardreaper]

[ Yeah, there we go. She's coming to. He offers his... shoulder.. in case she needs help getting up and steadying herself. ]

Knox. Kuroyuki's god. We found you out cold about to be turned into ayakashi mulch. Couldn't very well ignore a personal acquaintance of me partner's, now could I?

[ But then his attention is elsewhere, briefly. Listening to that voice in his head.

"She looks... dazed." ]

Think we should just take her back to her temple? Could prolly get us close enough even if I haven't been there before.

[ "If she isn't responding, it might be the best course of action.: ]

[priforprince]

My temple.....?

[ She has a temple?

She's the sort of person who would have a temple....?

Wait, what sort of person is sh--

Hibiki looks up, confused, lost. Handsomely, winsomely distraught. ]

Who am I?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

What the -- hey! I can still shoot that thing down! Are you TRYING to get on my bad side!?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

What, and you can't do that in the middle of badass combat? You're nuts! That totally augments it. You strike down foes, all the while never losing that pensive, thoughtful expression. It makes your combat look effortless!

[freezetheheavens]

I won't do it in that case.

[He won't force a shinki to be named by him, and he knows that if it had just been him, he could just freeze the ayakashi in their place until he can get his shinki. He already has two nora'd shinki - he doesn't need more either, but the situation is forcing that hand.

A brief nod.]

Agreed. [That's fair enough.]

[priforprince]

I was in servitude to this deluded a master....?

[ Hibiki looks horrified. And lost.

It breaks her heart to think she might be someone

pathetic. ]

[erogappa]

[ Doku might not see Gojyo right away, but Gojyo sure spots Doku. He's hard to miss, being a big broad dude with an even bigger, broader sword. "He acted with good intent" Sharak had told him, but that pretty much means that the truth is the complete opposite.

That's the asshole who killed his mom.

But there's enough enemies floating around right now, so that particular bit of vengeance can wait. Gojyo's cleaving ayakashi left and right, jabbing and slicing at them with his staff (although, oddly enough, he's using the spade-shaped blade, and not his usual crescent-shaped one, and the crescent one hasn't left the staff once). It's not killing the creatures, but he likes to pretend that it's slowing them down.

And he keeps pretending that, until one of the noise ayakashi comes at him from the side, searing itself against his skin before he can turn and strike it back. His shirt protects most of him, but his throat and the whole side of his face have gone an angry reddish purple.

He stumbles back, shaking his head, as the ayakashi keep advancing. ]

[lostinshadows]

.... [This does nothing to ease the ill feeling pooling inside of him. He knows Shun, knows the little gestures he makes, and knows that Shun actually pays attention to the people he's talking with even if it is met with annoyance. It makes Lavi grow silent, his lone eye focused on studying the god, but aware of the tears still ongoing around them as well.]

[lostinshadows]

[No, please don't nuzzle him. Why are you nuzzling him?

But they arrive at Hel's temple soon enough and after shrinking his hammer, he simply carries Ayumu inside. Almost immediately, they're greeted with a corgi that practically scampers over to them.]

Sisi. [A brief greeting to the dog as he places Ayumu at one of the tables in the temple.]

[lostinshadows]

You didn't because I never told you.

[Surprise, surprise.

....Fuck.]

You've got to be kidding me.

[kagenonadeshiko]

[Ayumu's completely relaxed as he carries her inside, head lolling against his shoulder. When Sisi trots up to them, she nods with a smile in greeting to the dog. She lets him deposit her in a chair without the slightest hint of protest, not even to cling to him. Her posture's unusually sloppy as she slumps in the chair, almost like a stringless puppet, her hands clasped loosely on the table's surface. Her face is eerily frozen into a soft, serene smile, her good eye drifting half-closed as if she's feeling drowsy.

It's such a freakish, unnatural state for her to be in compared to her usual lively demeanor that she may as well had her soul ripped out of her. She's lapsed into total silence, much like the soulless shinki do when left to their own devices.

If it hadn't already been evident that something very serious had happened to her, it certainly is now.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Unsurprisingly, Shun doesn't pay much heed to Lavi going silent, since it's not relevant to doing what they need to do right now. As soon as they get near one of the portals, Shun focuses fully on it, and the edges of it start to warp and distort.

The grass around it is rotting at the same time, as well. It seems like Shun is more focused on getting this done quickly than self-control or making sure he's not spilling over onto things he's not trying to use his powers on.]

[priforprince]

How can I kid when I don't know a thing?!

[ She's still. Hibiki. Sort of.

Except when the temper flare dies down she looks absolutely, utterly lost. Like she's been deprived of the most important thing in her life.

She. She doesn't know a thing.

Who is she...? ]

[minogame]

( Agreed. That's it, then. If he goes back on his word, he'll make sure he regrets it but he'll deal with that when it happens. )

Alright.

I'm Urashima. ( He'll sheathe his sword, holding it at his side and wait. ) Take care of me.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Are! And there's nothing deluded about that. Perfect, detached calm in the midst of chaos is an ultimate expression of control!

[priforprince]

I suppose so.

[ Hibiki blinks pointedly at whatever the nearest other minions happen to be doing. Is that, perchance, "perfectly detached calm" over there? ]

[freezetheheavens]

[He has no reason to go back on his word.]

Spirit, you are lost and adrift. You have nowhere to go and nowhere to return to. Thus, I grant you a place to belong.

My name is Kuraokami.

Bearing two names you shall remain here. With these names I make thee my servant. Thy name is its reading. Thy vessel its sound. By my decree, you become my shinki. Thy name is Urashima. Thy vessel 'Ryuu'.

Come, Ryuuki.

[He traces the character in the air shortly before it flies over to Urashima.]

[minogame]

( It's just a name but he feels himself bracing for it all the same. It isn't something he particularly wants to have but right now, it's necessary. It's only because of the circumstances that he's allowing this. The name appears on his forearm and just as he's looking at it, making out the new character, he changes.

There's a burst of light and cherry blossoms. There are always cherry blossoms when he changes form. It's just the nature of his spirit changing shape. In the midst of the tempest, Hitsugaya will see a memory from Urashima's past. When the blossoms disperse, he'll find a sword in his hand. It's short just barely the proper length for a regular uchigatana but given Hitsugaya's height it's probably fine. Despite the size, it's well crafted and has a good weight. This is a sword that can definitely cut. Some petals land on the blade and disappear, leaving drops of water. )

Let's hurry.

( So they can get this over with. )

[freezetheheavens]

[The memory is something he expects to see by now, and it gives him a better idea about Urashima, not that he'd say it aloud. Instead, he simply sets forth, not dallying and gripping the sword tightly in his hand, content with the size and compatibility for the brief moment.

He swings the sword at the ayakashi, a flicker of surprise when a dragon made of water erupts from the blade - not so different from Hyourinmaru - and it charges at the ayakashi with a strong intensity.]