[closed]

[toremainbehind]

Who: Izumo & Fushimi
When: 12/24
Where: Near Shore
What: Prayer #88; A young girl decided to join a gang and worry her parents. Nothing can go wrong, right?



"My young daughter has gone missing! She's been avoiding the family a lot lately, but even this is a bit much to be gone for several days at a time, don't you think? I hope she haven't gotten into anything too serious...

[While it does sound like the usual case of a teenager going awol or through a rebellion phase, Izumo figured he'd check it out, anyway. It doesn't sound like anything that would be too difficult. Really, from the sound of it, it's more like a scouting mission in hopes to find the wayward teenager and her parents just wanted her home.

Well, at least Izumo is familiar with the concept of runaway teens, having adopted some of them himself over the years.

Still, it sounds suspicious enough that he does go check it.

This time, he's just bringing Fushimi along for the ride.]

Comments

Starting prayer #89!

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo sends him a look for that.

But then he shifts his gaze.]

It shouldn't be too hard. There are multiple choices: pretending to join to get in, barging in, or sneaking in. Take your pick.

[monkeyblue]

...joining. Probably faster than either of the other options.

[toremainbehind]

Alright then.

[With that, he ventures in further, only stopping when someone steps out, hand outstretched towards them in an obvious 'stop' sign.

The man looks at them warily.]

Who are you? Are you new recruits?

We are.

[monkeyblue]

We heard rumors about good luck.

[Fushimi shrugs.]

We could use some.

[toremainbehind]

[A moment before the guy grins.]

Wonderful! This way, this way! It's always refreshing to have people finally come around.

[The man turns, leading the two of them to a wall. He grins and winks at the two before he presses against a tile on the wall, pushing it in and reveals a revolving door.]

This way gentlemen.

[monkeyblue]

[Fushimi looks at Izumo as they're shown in. Under his breath:]

Something's up.

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo gives a slight nod in agreement.

The man leads them in, revealing it to be a hidden warehouse. Lights seems to blink on one by one as they venture more into the building, revealing it to be an underground casino.]

[monkeyblue]

[...huh. Slots, roulette, baccarat--plenty of games that are hard to cheat at. No blackjack, so no easy card counting.

Fushimi glances at Izumo. Thoughts?]

[toremainbehind]

[A raise of the brow back at him.

For a gang thinking of 'luck', this wasn't really what he had in mind. But their guide stops when they get closer to the middle of the casino, turning to face them.]

We have a meeting for all new recruits within the hour. So please feel free to explore in the meantime!

[Izumo smiles.]

Thank you.

Of course. Anything for a new member of our gang. [The man makes a sign with his hand: touching the tip of his middle finger to his chin before twisting his hand to the front.]

[monkeyblue]

[Fushimi just nods and waits for the guy to leave before turning to Izumo.]

Split up or stay together?

[toremainbehind]

Split up.

[He sighs.]

Meet back here within an hour.

[monkeyblue]

[Fushimi nods and slinks off, heading for the card games. He's unremarkable enough that even without the whole "no one remembers you when they look away" thing he has going for him he's pretty sure he could watch the card tables without a problem.

He can definitely pocket a chip or two as he passes a blackjack table where the dealer is yelling at someone for counting cards.]

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo moves around, letting the usual god/shinki invisibility hide him away from view. He does stop when he hears people talking, mentioning something about a 'sacrifice'. It has him frowning, taking out his phone to record their conversation as they wouldn't see him.

When he's heard enough, Izumo moves away, heading a little further into the building to see if there's anything more.]

[monkeyblue]

[Fushimi, by coincidence, also heads that way. He pulls out a chip and passes it to Izumo when they meet up.]

That looks familiar.

[toremainbehind]

[He takes the chip, inspecting it.]

A little too familiar to be honest. [Taking out his phone, he plays the recorded audio of the talk to Fushimi as well.]

[monkeyblue]

[And Fushimi just facepalms as he listens.]

Cultists?

[toremainbehind]

Yup.

[He sighs.]

[monkeyblue]

Great.

[Fushimi shoves his hands in his pockets, trying for all of a minute not to pull a dagger out before giving in and letting one fall into his hand. He keeps unsheathing and resheathing it as they wander further in, eventually getting to what looks like an office.]

Huh.

[toremainbehind]

...

[What's with these people?]

May as well take a look around in this room.

[monkeyblue]

This place is weird....

[As Fushimi wanders over, he's stopped by the cultists.]

Offerin'?

[toremainbehind]

What counts as an offering?

[It better not be anything that's similar to human sacrifice.]

[monkeyblue]

Anything you wanna give for good luck. The bigger the better.

[Softly, to Izumo:]

A knife from me, your lighter from you?

[toremainbehind]

[.....There are so many reasons why Izumo doesn't want to give up his lighter, but he can always buy more.

A subtle nod before he takes out his lighter, showing it to them.]

Will this do?

[monkeyblue]

[Fushimi flips one of his knives (not the fanciest one, obviously, but still new and shiny.]

We're broke. There's not much we can offer here.

[The cultists look between each other and nod. One reaches out to take the offerings.]

They'll work.

[toremainbehind]

Glad to know.

[He gives the cultist his lighter.]