001 | The Welcoming Feast

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: A little bit of explanation, thank goodness.
When: Early morning. (February 15, 2016)
Where: The Heavens. Specifically in the Meeting Hall.
Warnings: Exposition is coming your way, sit back and enjoy the show!



The Heavens have summoned you. And there is no way to turn down a summons from the Heavens. Of course, some of you know where you are and what you are probably doing here, but most of you might be completely confused as to what is going on. All gods have been ushered into the meeting hall, where every person suddenly becomes anonymous and obscured, while every shinki has been gathered up outside in the hallway, both sets to listen to the same message sent by Amaterasu herself. And while you cannot see her properly or really figure out what her voice sounds like, you definitely know that it's her speaking:

'Welcome, one and all, to Takamagahara. There are many new gods and shinki here today, and I hope you all find your stay pleasant. I wish that I could explain to you exactly why you find yourselves here now, but I am unsure of the details myself. Please make use of the shinki dedicated to our services in order to make yourself more acquainted with your new position. You can find them by looking for my golden insignia.

As compensation for the trouble you are all being put through, I have had a wonderful feast prepared. I only hope that it is to your liking. Feel free to eat and drink as much as you would like, though please do not leave before the clock chimes midnight, for that is when your homes will be prepared.

I ask that all pre-existing gods please help those new to our ways. Let them know what is and is not acceptable and what duties will be expected of them. I am counting on your all to support the Heavens in this confusing time as we attempt to sort things out.

Thank you all for your time. And I am truly sorry that you have found yourselves in this situation.

With that, the figure that is Amaterasu bows deeply and disappears from their sights. The gods are released from their chamber and the shinki are allowed to roam. All exits are manned by a white-clad shinki, bearing a golden, embroidered Chrysanthemum on their chests. So, technically, there is no way out. You can't even seem to teleport out by any means.

All that's really left to do is enjoy the food and hope that you'll actually be able to leave after the clock chimes midnight. Though the clock doesn't seem to work on a minute-by-minute basis either...



Banquet Hall

There is food from literally every culture and walk of life here. Everything is prepared gorgeously and deliciously, no expenses spared. There are shinki bearing the Chrysanthemum carrying out new platters of everything as it's eaten up and nothing seems to go hot or cold as time passes - it always at the perfect temperature for eating and it never tastes anything but delicious. Maybe there's a little magic making it taste so good...

On top of the delectable dinner, there are plenty of desserts and every kind of alcohol available and constantly being refilled. The liquor is being offered to gods and shinki alike, no matter how old they are/look. Let's hope that you can hold your alcohol.

Counselling

In the main hallway, there is an innocuous door with a small, nicely written sign that reads "Gentle Counselling". Inside the door is a small room with a few sweetly smiling shinki inside who are willing to listen to your problems and answer any questions you might have. They are also here to help out any gods that are having a hard time dealing with knowing about how their shinki died and also any shinki that is having trouble coming to terms with the fact that they are dead.

Did Someone Say Games?

A large room connected to the back of the banquet hall has a wide variety of games set up for everyone to enjoy. There are old-fashioned board games (like chess and Othello) as well as newer ones (like Candy Land and Sorry!). On top of that, there is every kind of console available with every video game ever made - and plenty of handheld devices for everyone to be able to play. The devices don't seem to work outside of this room, though, so you'll have to stay there if you want to keep playing. Gaming is, after all, a great way to get to know new people!

After Midnight

Finally, the clock starts to chime. It seems like it's been days and yet only minutes at the same time. Time seems to work so strangely here in Takamagahara and it's hard to keep up with what's going on. But now that the shinki guarding the doors have left their posts, you are more than welcome to leave. In fact, the Heavens seem to want you to leave because all of the food has disappeared, none of the games work anymore (including the board games, which keep flipping over when you try to play...), and the friendly shinki are smiling as they usher you out the doors.

You are welcome to start wandering around Takamagahara, but it's an ambiguous sort of place and might just take you straight home anyway. Feel free to go home and start bonding with your partner. Or sneak home with someone else because your partner is a meanie-pants. It's up to you!



In Summary:

• Amaterasu says you're stuck here and she doesn't know why. Sorry!
• There's lots of food to eat, though! Eat your fill.
• Oh, and there's booze too. Try not to get TOO drunk.
• Guidance/Grief counselling is available, if you need it.
• Use gaming to get close to others!
• Try to start bonding with your god/shinki. Or just form new friendships. Whatever you feel best doing!
• Have fun!

Comments

[jyajyaaan]

After you died??

[His eyebrows shoot up.]

How is that supposed to be possible?!

[sweetdeath]

Well -- I was a god of death back home. Nothing like this! We were just salarymen, but you get the job after you die.

It's been a while!

[He tries a laugh, which sounds a little more convincing, and draws furrows in the carrot cake's icing with his fork. It's just weird, describing these things to people. Aren't all the shinki here dead, too, anyway? And Tsuzuki wouldn't bet on the mortals being alive. Mortals don't become gods without dying first, as a general rule.]

[jyajyaaan]

A god of death? Is that even possible?

[He sounds intrigued rather than disbelieving -- he has been dealing with a lot of spirits prior to his death, even been able to summon some deities. So it's not that out there to think that there are some entities that make sure that things are going their natural order... or whatever else it is Tsuzuki has been doing.]

[sweetdeath]

Haha, sure!

[Tsuzuki shrugs, and actually takes a bite of the cake, relaxing a little.]

It's not like we actually collect every soul of a person who dies. Most of them make it across on their own, but if one goes missing, somebody needs to go figure out why -- that's us.

[He shrugs again.] I guess they'll have to find a new hire, huh? Anyway, this is a lot nicer.

[jyajyaaan]

Hmph. If it's really as badly paid as you say, then that might take them a while.

Still...

[Leaning forward, he rests his chin on one of his hands.]

Does it ever happen that a soul can't be found anymore? If it gets lost that badly, or stolen.... What happens then?

[sweetdeath]

We find out who stole it.

Sometimes it's out of our jurish... [He stumbles on the word (he's blaming the Mai Tai) and tries again, with exaggerated care.] Jurisdiction. Otherwise, we don't lose a lot of them.

[Sometimes, yeah. Those souls, well, if Tsuzuki knew what had happened to them he wouldn't have failed to solve the case.]

[jyajyaaan]

Haha... Is that so? [His eyes turn sad for a moment as he averts his gaze.

'Don't lose a lot of them', huh?

That'd be a real laugh if it weren't such a bitter memory to stomach.

Closing his eyes he leans back and sighs.]

I used to be scared of spirits, back when I was young. It's a silly thing, because the only thing that awaits Barains once we die is the total erasure. The leftover energy that we still have can be taken in by somebody else, but our minds, souls... That what makes us us simply gets destroyed. ...I like your happy end more.

[sweetdeath]

Are you sure?

[Tsuzuki's gaze is distant, sliding away from Ma'at to linger on some sight that's not in this room at all.]

Well... there are ways for our souls to be destroyed, too.

[jyajyaaan]

Very sure.

[Shrugging his shoulders, he makes an remorseful face.]

I am still surprised that I woke up here, rather than... Whatever else. My last moments wasn't pretty.

[sweetdeath]

You died? [Then there is something that survives, if his soul was drawn to this world. Tsuzuki files that away, and eats the last cream puff on his plate.]

[jyajyaaan]

Yeah. It was either just me or a friend who refused to let go even if it killed us both, so the choice was obvious.

I don't know if it's the same for you, but your souls can die too, right? What does it take for a god of death to die?

[sweetdeath]

For our bodies to be destroyed. We're like you Barains in a way, I guess. We're hard to kill, but if this body goes, that's it for second chances.

[Very, very hard to kill. The regeneration of a Shinigami's body won't stop unless every last cell is destroyed... Tsuzuki blinks, bringing his eyes back into focus on the here and now, and dismisses the thought.

It hasn't been very long since the inferno. He still thinks of it when he's not careful not to.]

... It's lucky you got pulled over here with the rest of us, then, huh?

[jyajyaaan]

[He doesn't miss Tsuzuki's small moment there and secretly files it away for later. Death isn't exactly the best topic to press for a discussion upon your first meeting.]

I guess. I'm wouldn't have thought that somebody like you had enemies, though. Wouldn't safe guidance be something most want?

[sweetdeath]

Most people don't want to die.

[Sure, when you find people who have been somehow trapped between life and death -- ghosts, zombies, vampires, the victims of demon contracts -- they usually want out. When it's someone looking for a way to miss their appointment with death, though, they don't like Death in a cheap suit knocking on their door.

Maybe people will be happier about a god of desserts. Who wouldn't pick cake over death?]

[jyajyaaan]

True. [There is no denying that. You'd have to be a sad, egomaniac, pathetic loser like Nasch to wish for something like that without having exploited all other options first.]

I know I would fight with my nails and teeth if anybody tried to take my life. Unlike some others~

[He sighs and shakes his head. Enough of thinking of Nasch already.]

Let's talk about something happier. You said that you got lucky with your shinki, yes? How was finding each other like? I'm tasked with two but I don't feel up to the task at all~

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki laughs uncomfortably. He's not most, himself. And the question is even more awkward: should he talk about Hisoka's past when Hisoka doesn't remember? What if it gets back to him? He'd be furious.]

Uh... we haven't talked yet tonight. I just know he'll do a great job!

[jyajyaaan]

Hm? You teamed up without one half of the team knowing about it? Should I be worried?

[The last part is a tease, but he does raise his eyebrows.]

[sweetdeath]

Uh, no -- I mean -- it'll be fine! Don't worry about us, Hisoka and me have this under control!

Ha ha.

[It does sound really bad, doesn't it? Especially if he can't just explain. Maybe Hisoka'll remember and it'll all be okay. Tsuzuki knows it's a coward's move, hiding from him, but he doesn't know if he can keep cool just yet and Hisoka's observant even when you don't count in the fact that he can sense emotions. If he's drunk, he can pass off whatever he does as being drunk.

He should've thought about how to explain this in advance.]

[jyajyaaan]

[The look he gives him is amazingly Not Impressed for a person that can only emote with their eyes.]

You know, if you are trying to talk around "that" then you are doing an amazingly poor job of it.

[sweetdeath]

... Around what?

[Now he's lost.

Mostly it's because the comment derailed his anxious train of thought about how to talk to Hisoka about their partnership's weird new turn, and how to talk to other people about it, and-- and what was he asking again? Oh yeah.]

"That"?

[jyajyaaan]

Huuuuh? You don't know about it? How did you get your shinki when you didn't even do 'that' yet?

[There is a slightly nasty ring in his voice as his eyes narrow dangerously. His thumb flicks to point at where the 'counseling' is happening right now, but that's all the hints he'll give.

Is Tsuzuki trying to lie to him?]

[sweetdeath]

[It'd register faster if it weren't that Tsuzuki's known how Hisoka died for a long time now. Yeah, it was a shock seeing it, but it's not a secret, or anything. He stares back and forth between Vector and the counseling area a few times, trying to figure out which numbers he's supposed to add....

Oh. Two and two. Got it. Yeah.]

Oh, that!

... Yeah, okay. Sorry, I didn't get it right away. I mean -- [He lowers his voice.] We've been partners for a long time, just -- you know, shinki don't remember, so --

Don't mention it around him, okay?

[jyajyaaan]

[What's up with that reaction? Vector's eyes narrow in annoyance because he can't look into Tsuzuki's head and doesn't know him long enough for any educated guesses, but he does have a feeling that something important happened and he missed it. Which is by default annoying.]

Of course. I'm not planning on sharing such sensible information with anyone without getting your consent for doing so first.

[That's a lie if he's ever told one, but it's also what his old, un-corrupted self would have responded with. Keeping up that particular face feels like he is denying his true self, but in the end Vector doesn't have any interest in poking any hornets nests in this odd place. That resolve could hold up for the next 300 years or break in the next hour, but he'd rather withhold on picking a role without having figured out a playing field.]

[sweetdeath]

Just keep it under your hat! I mean -- we'll figure it out....

[Maybe it wouldn't be a problem if Hisoka found out about their history as partners? But something tells Tsuzuki that it really would. He's just going to have to play this by ear. He looks around, wondering if he can spot Hisoka anywhere, but no; he's probably hiding from the party. No point in going to bother him now.]

Thanks.

[He shakes off the uncertainty, and glances back at Vector.]

... So, uh. Did you know your Shinki before you got here or what? I was wondering if it was just us.

[jyajyaaan]

[He gives him a queer look, because there is definitely something there, he's convinced of it now, but simply nods in response.]

Mine? [Nope. Never met them, nor does he want to ever do. He sweatdrops.] I have no clue who they are. Some kids I'll have to take care of.