thenearshore | 40 - May Event: Mystic Messengers' Mark

40 - May Event: Mystic Messengers' Mark

Who: Everyone!
When: May 15th
Where: Votelli's Forest
What: The boar and deer population of Japan has boomed in recent years as hunters age and people move away from rural areas. The people have called upon the gods to help with this "pest" issue.

All over Heaven, gods receive invitations stamped with the chrysanthemum of Amaterasu. Each and every god has been invited to join the old gods on an old-fashioned hunt to do something about the boar and deer populations on the Near Shore. Votelli's forest has been chosen as the location of this sacred hunt, as it offers an expansive landscape for the sport as well as opens up the opportunity for many of the gods - both old and new - to speak to Votelli herself face to face. Other activities are planned for those who do not wish to hunt, such as an archery contest and a demonstration of Takagari - the Japanese art of falconry.

Face to Face

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Face to Face (Before/After)

Before:

After:

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Gathering for the Hunt

the Hungry Forest event

seems

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Ready Aim Fire

archery range

archers

marksmen

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The Great Hunt

not

all

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A Different Sort of Hunt

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In Summary:

Join the old gods on a hunt
Enjoy the meal and activities
Speak to Votelli or Sotero
Participate in the hunt - whether your prey be two-legged or four
Fight the giant boar ayakashi
Have fun~

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Ginia knows immediately she's not in her bed when she wakes up. Her clothes are different too, a proper set of pajamas instead of the baggy t-shirt and shorts she usually wears to bed. Unease weighs in her chest as her left hand curls into the halberd position, blinking sleep away as she takes in her surroundings. There's a heart monitor clipped to her right pointer finger, an IV in her arm. A few vases of flowers and cards are placed on the nightstand and it takes a few more seconds for her to realize she's in the infirmary.

Feeling fine, rested even, Ginia toggles on and off her controllable nanomachines, making sure her pain dampeners aren't accidentally on. No pain at all, no trouble with any of the routines. Ginia sits up and pushes the blankets back, looking for any other injuries. None.

Unease lingering, Ginia looks for her phone and finds it conveniently on the nightstand, plugged in. The dozens of notifications will have to wait as she fixates on the time and date. Ten past 6 AM, May 15th.

How the hell did I lose a week? Ginia wonders even as the answer is clear. Isn't that a thing that happens to new generation that everyone treats as common fact? But having it happen to her...

No wonder she's in the infirmary. It's the most sensible thing to do when someone falls into a sudden coma.

Ginia pulls up the contact list and sends a message to Ebisu and his retinue.

I'm awake, feel fine. Sorry if I worried any of you.

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, there's Ebisu teleporting directly into her room. "Jitsumi!" Beaming, he rushes over to her-

-and promptly tangles up his own feet, pitching forward and smashing his face directly into the tile floor.

Around the same time, there's the sound of wheels clattering down the hallway outside, and Kimi rolls into view on a rolling chair. Unlike what casual wear she's seen on him, or his cooking outfit, or office suit, he's in scrubs and a long white coat. "Hey! You had us- oh no, young master, oh... no."

There goes the happy reunion. Unlike most people in movies, Ginia has enough sense to not leap out of bed and rip out the IV in her arm. She removes the heart monitor and makes sure there's enough slack on the IV tubing before sliding out of bed. Despite what a week of steady sleep should do, there's no weakness or unsteadiness in any of her limbs as she walks with the IV stand to Ebisu's side and helps him up.

Blood trickles from his nose, though thankfully it isn't broken. Ginia tilts his head forward slightly and wipes away the blood with the edge of her sleeve. With no hesitation, she circles Ebisu's nose with her fingers, setting the mend spell in motion. Ginia glances at Kimi as he rolls into the room, smiling at his outfit and whistling lightly. Any further flirting will have to wait as she ends the healing spell.

At least Ebisu is quite used to this sort of treatment, considering, well. Considering everything. So he doesn't raise any fuss when she hauls him up, and only smiles patiently as she cleans his nose. It's probably not worth using a mend spell over, but he won't tell her how to use her talents. "I'm relieved you've woken up," he tells her while she works and Kimi carefully puts the chair to the side where no one can trip over it.

"It seems like your muscles are still working fine," Kimi says as he finally enters the room proper, beaming. "That was the main worry, honestly!"

The spell only draws on her own energy as borderlines do. Short as the duration was, strong as she is, and fully rested, Ginia doesn't feel any strain at all as she ends the spell. Aside from a tiny bit of dried blood on his nostril, there's no sign of the injury at all. Good.

Ginia flexes an arm as she sits on the edge of the bed. "I've heard from others that have taken a long nap there are never any side-effects." She signs, counting on Kimi to translate for their god. Her toes wiggle and she flexes her ankles, checking for any slight signs because it's still hard for her to believe. "If I didn't see the date, I wouldn't have even known how much time I lost."

That bothers her the most, being out of commission for so long, especially at such a busy time.

"I promise I feel fine, but if you want to give me a through check up, I won't say no, Doctor Kimi."

Maybe don't translate that last part.

Well, she's made the wrong gamble here. Kimi absolutely makes direct eye contact with her, grinning, as he translates for her signing.

He's not sorry.

Fortunately, it seems to go over Ebisu's head- or maybe he doesn't see an issue with the phrase, because he just nods his head thoughtfully. "Doing a quick check up just in case can't hurt. While this may be a regular occurrence in this new generation, it seems as though there's still a lot that's unknown about it. Caution is best in that sort of scenario."

Ginia pouts at Kimi, but she knows she should have seen that coming. Her cheeks heat up and she ignores it as she continues right along.

"No one knows how or why it happens as far as I know. I know it's happened to some people multiple times for short periods, others losing more time. Sleep seems to be a weird thing overall with my generation. Chris mentioned she went to bed and had a few months pass in her world by the time she woke up. And a few shinki have--"

Regained memories is what Ginia was about to sign, but quickly cuts herself off. Is Kimi aware shinki of the new generation can regain memories? If he doesn't, she doesn't want to be the way he finds out.

"--Woken up as gods." There. That's accurate enough. Rita is the most recent case that come to mind. As far as she can tell from Rita and Tsubasa, it was a sudden change. Maria's change could have easily been the same in reverse.

Ginia's hands lightly grip the edge of the bed. No new memories as far as she can tell. Clearly not a god given Chris's name is still visible on her hand. No physical side-effects as far as she can tell. Status quo. She looks at the flowers and cards waiting and smiles ruefully.

"Fill me in on anything I missed while I go through a checkup?"

Ebisu crosses his arms, nodding slowly to himself. "That's right, I've noticed some strange and unique occurrences like that with your generation... Hakkai-san is the most notable example, although I believe that's partially because he made quite a ruckus as a shinki."

Taking out a stethoscope, Kimi comes over to take stock of Ginia's breathing. "Oh boy, has he," he mutters. "Part of many reasons Takami doesn't like him."

Ignoring that bit of office gossip, Ebisu continues on. "Well, there has been talk of your generation hosting some of the training events instead in the coming days, which will be interesting. Heaven is also to gather everyone for a hunt soon, and deal with the rogue gods. This mess might be coming to a close soon..."

There's an interesting bit of gossip. She knew Hakkai used to be a shinki, though hadn't heard much about his time as one. That enough happened for Takami to form a negative opinion is incredibly interesting. "You have to tell me that story later," she signs. She sits a bit straightener and takes a few slow, deep breaths so Kimi can check her breathing.

Her breath catches a little at Ebisu's news. That her generation may take over training is an interesting change. More than a few people would probably prefer running things on their own, and the less influence Heaven has the better, but she's not sure many temples are set up in the same way for training. That only means it'll be a bit more unique going forward. Maybe it'll be better for networking too.

Gathering for a hunt does not settle as well with her. "Do you think there's a chance Votelli and Sotero will be pardoned given all the evidence they have?"

Preoccupied as he is, all Kimi does is give a slight nod to indicate he's seen her request for office tales. He's a lot more interested in checking out her breathing before pulling away to tuck the stethescope back and moving onto a brief eye check up with a small flashlight.

At least he can still translate for her while working in an impressive display of multitasking. Ebisu considers the question. "I think that may depend on their reactions and what Heaven asks of them. For example, Heaven may ask them to renounce their origins, or they'll still be labeled as rebel gods. However, they've been more open to the idea than I Would have thought, so hopefully that is a good sign."

Nice multitasking. Ginia holds back another teasing comment as she listens to Ebisu and continues being a a model patient. It's unusual how healthy Ginia is after a week of deep sleep. Her pupils dilate and contract without any problems, she tracks motion without any delays or jittering that point toward head trauma. Sometimes a deep sleep is a deep sleep. Unusual as it is from a medical standpoint, Ginia is relieved there aren't any side-effects. It makes it all the easier diving back into work.

"I hope it works in their favor. They deserve a chance." However, even if the gods are pardoned, there's still another problem. "What about the cult? With all the evidence pointing toward their actions, I can't see Heaven letting them be."

It really is scientifically impressive how good a shape her body is in, just proving how strange the shinki body can be in any generation. Still, no doctor can just leave things as they are without checking every 'just in case' box. At least, if they're a decent doctor, and Kimi likes to think that he is. Just a few more check ups...

"I imagine they will do something, especially depending on what answers they manage to get out of the two rogue gods. At this point, it's become clear that they can't simply leave this sort of thing be, no matter how much the Far Shore tries to avoid messing with the Near Shore too much." He blinks and looks up as Kimi steps away, finally done. "Oh, it looks as though your health checks out. That's good."

"I imagine my generation will be quick to help out." And maybe it's better Heaven has a general hands-off-no-harm policy when it comes to humans. Were it up to her generation, more than a few assassinations and murders would have occurred by now. Ginia knows she's been tempted on more than one occasion to take out Takeru herself. The only reason she hasn't is because it wouldn't really solve anything and the cultists don't need another death to rally around. Also it might as easily cause Votelli to disappear if not enough people believe in her. So grudgingly, Ginia can follow Heaven's lead in this matter.

With the last test done, the IV removed and a bandage on her arm, Ginia stands and stretches. It's a good day to get back into things, though maybe it's better she stays in the office and catches up on work. No doubt there's plenty to do. Kasumi is definitely going to let her have it. She picks up one of the cards and glances at the message inside. Apology presents for everyone, an offer to pickup more work, Ginia makes plans. She reaches for another card when she notices an envelope addressed to Ginia, not Jitsumi. Dread fills her as she picks up the envelope and sees a letter inside instead of a card. It only takes reading a few lines before she folds it up and swallows hard. There's no date on the letter, which only makes it all the more worse.

"Have either of you seen Zhao in the last few days? Or know who dropped this off for me?"

She's not the only one who's stretching. Kimi rolls some of the kinks from his neck, having been sitting and doing paperwork separate from most of the temple. Ebisu lets him, dusting himself off one last time. It seems like everything has checked out, after all, so there's no need to worry.

At least, not until Ginia asks that question, and he blinks up at the tension suddenly filling their connection. "That?" he ask, before immediately looking over to Kimi. "Do you recall who else visited and dropped off that envelope?"

Kimi browns a little, tapping the side of his glasses as he thinks. "There were a few people, honestly... But I think it might have been from that one newcomer's temple? Outside worker, facial hair, people are split between wanting to ask him out or push him out the sixth floor window."

Yeah, that's a good description of Zhao. However, even though he was well out of reach for anyone to date, Ginia's sure no one is going to get the chance to defenestrate him either.

"I need to get dressed and check on someone." Tears sting her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. Maybe when she's alone, definitely once she's had a chance to read the letter in full. "I promise I'll be back as soon as possible, I know I've missed a lot of work."

A wordless glance is exchanged between Ebisu and Kimi, both able to read the air in two very different ways. It's Kimi who acts first, his hand going over to tuck back some of Ginia's hair behind one ear. "I'll be at the desk down the hall if you need me," he tells her, a simple offer with no strings attached. "Let me know if you start feeling woozy or anything." All her vitals- as much as could be attributed to shinki- were clearly fine, so at least he doesn't have to worry about her health in that aspect. Now he just worries about her in other ways, glancing back to her even while he's heading towards the door.

Only when he's out does Ebisu let out a slow breath. "We're always busy," he says simply, because it would be a lie to say his temple couldn't use the extra help. "However, if you need an afternoon to deal with all of this, please let me know. For this, we can allow that much."

Despite her sadness, Ginia smiles at Kimi for the physical gesture and the unspoken one. With so much to do and catch up on Ginia isn't sure if she'll take up the offer immediately, but maybe later. She watches him go before turning back to her god, reaching for her phone.

"Thank you, though barring anything else that happens, I would like to get back to work." The hunt and decision of what to do about Sotero and Votelli is important enough. She's sure her coworker can forgive her for another day of absence given how much work she's put into things. "With all the sleep I got, I feel like I could pull an all nighter."

Please don't.

"Oh, there will be plenty of time for that," Ebisu says, not having learned anything like safe business practices for his own temple. There's just.. not been enough time. Or employees. "Then... Do you want me to take you back to your room? It might be better for your health as you recover as well."

He's still really concerned about her... but if she says she's alright, and it doesn't feel like she's lying, then he'll put his trust into her more than anything.

Ginia's physical health is truly well enough to walk back to her room on her own, but looking down at her borrowed pajamas, a quick teleport over isn't an unwelcome offer. The sooner she can shower and fix her hair, the better.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you. Let me grab the cards." The flowers she'll have to come back for later.

With a neat stack of cards and her phone in hand, Ginia takes Ebisu's small hand in her own. Ready.

Considering how instantaneous god teleportation can be, Ebisu has no problem with waiting for her a few seconds. It's really probably better for everyone if he just stays still in one place. When she's finally ready, he smiles up at her, and they're right in front of her apartment door before he looks down again.

"Alright, here we are." He doesn't let go of her hand just yet, however, small fingers kneading into her palm for a moment. "You will let us know if you start to feel out of sorts at all, won't you? This is the first time our temple has had to deal with this sort of thing... We don't want to make any mistakes with your health."

Hopefully it's the last time any of them have to deal with it. It's a reminder she's not like the other shinki around. Not a negative, but still an uncomfortable reminder.

Ginia squeezes Ebisu's in a silent agreement. In a burst of fondness, she leans down and kisses the top of his head. The youngest of his shinki is a magnet for trouble, but she'll be responsible about this. Don't worry.

....Oh. That certainly happened.

It couldn't be more clear that this has never happened to Ebisu before as the young god slowly reaches up to the top of his head with both hands, blinking wide eyes. The gesture is something he's seen before, a few times, when he's watched the human world, but it's... never happened to him. Even most of his own shinki haven't touched him so familiarly, and other gods certainly wouldn't dare even without his questionable reputation throughout Heaven.

Ginia seems to have momentarily bluecreened her god.

Confused uncertainty follows as Ginia straightens up, remembering in the moment Ebisu isn't really a kid and--despite how the role feels at time--she's not his parent. Was that some kind of breach of the shinki-god partnership? Overstepping general boundaries?

Ginia looks around nervously to see if anyone else is around. There's a gut reaction to apologize, but that feels wrong. She awkwardly stares back, choosing to respond based on his next act.

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40 - May Event: Mystic Messengers' Mark

Closed to Ebisu

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