thenearshore | Closed

A letter inviting his family is the most obvious route, but delivering the letter in person could give the message that extra needed touch. A letter could get lost or easily ignored, but people are a little harder to ignore (even when they're from the Far Shore). Who could resist an earnest kid like Romeo too?

"If I make sure he writes the letters and get the addresses, would you like to deliver them with me?"

"You want me to come and deliver them?" Romeo grinned, that sounded like it would be fun and if they delivered them in person they could make sure to explain just how much it would mean if they went to the festival!

"I would like that very much, miss Ginia!"

Ginia is not above leveraging the cure charm of a child to make someone's prayer come true. It would also be a good experience and it was his idea in the first place. She checks her phone as a few messages from her temple come in and smiles at Romeo.

"I'll talk to him and make sure everything ready by tomorrow. Then I'll come by and we can deliver the letters. Is that okay?"

"Alright miss! That sounds like a good plan!"

He can't wait, he hopes that it works and they all want to come to the festival. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Ginia leaves, heading back to her temple to change and teleport over to Kyoto. Between helping out with other tasks and getting the head priest to sit down and write the letters, it does take the better part of the day to get everything together.

There are ultimately two letters two letters to deliver. With two letters going overseas with no easy way to shrine hop there, the best case was to expedite the letters.

"We have his younger brother and his family in Tokyo, and his grandparents in Kumamoto. I thought we'd visit his grandparents first." Ginia explains to Romeo as they head toward Ebisu's temple to teleport from. Travel sure is easy when your god has tons of shrines to use.

Romeo woke up bright and early and so was ready for Ginia when she came to meet him the next day. He was very excited about their task and he bounced along next to Ginia, listening to her as she explained where they were going.

"Tokyo's the big big city right? The... capital! Of Japan. I don't think I know where Kumomoto is though! Does Ebisu have a shrine there too?"

It was very helpful that he had so many places they could travel to!

"That's right to both. Ebisu has many shrines on the Far Shore. I'll show where the cities are on a map."

Ginia pulls out her phone and opens a map of Japan. She points out Tokyo, then Kumamoto on the most southwest major island. It's a few hours by airplane, even longer by train, so teleporting is definitely easier.

"Here's Kyoto. This is where the festival is. It's at one of Ebisu's major shrines."

Romeo and Elfnien had done a lot of learning about maps when they had been tracking animals and getting them back to their owners. So the map was easy to follow as Ginia pointed out where the cities were!

Three cities so far away from each other and yet they could get there really fast by going to shrines!

That was good, though Romeo did wonder what it would be like to travel in one of the strange carriages that didn't use horses and were called cars and trains. Or even better to fly in one of the air planes.

But that would have to be a day where they didn't have letters to deliver.

"Do you got the address though? Because cities are big!"

He'll get his chance to ride a train. Teleporting to the city is the easy part, but they'll have to catch a train (maybe even a bus) and walk to get to the right location. It's also a good thing shinki can move fast.

Ginia nods and gives a shake of her phone, the addresses already stored and ready once they land. They're also written down and tucked away with the letters in the briefcase slung over her shoulder.

At Ebisu's temple, Ginia stops briefly to check if her coworkers need anything else while she's out on the Near Shore, picking up a few delivery requests to handle after. From there, it's an easy sequence of shrine hopping before they land at Ebisu's shrine in Kumamoto. The location isn't solely for him as it's one of three smaller shrines on the grounds for a larger shrine located on the grounds of Kumamoto Castle. And as they walk out of the grounds of the shrine, it's pretty easy seeing the castle.

With her phone already out to map out the directions, Ginia types and plays a message for Romeo.

"That's Kumamoto Castle. Beautiful, isn't it."

Romeo says hello to the shinki he knows at the temple, there really are a lot of them and yet everyone is always so busy!

"It looks like a really fancy temple!" It really was beautiful. Romeo stood awestruck at it before grinning up at Ginia. Castles were like temples but for humans, right?

"Who lives there?"

"People used to live in it many centuries ago, but now it's like a museum where people can learn more about the history."

If they weren't on such a time crunch, she'd suggest they take a detour and check it out. It's a place she's always wanted to go to herself, may will one day if someone wants a tour in sign language. But today, they need to move on.

"Why don't you and Elfnein come back and check it out? You can use Ebisu's shrine to get here."

Romeo opened his mouth to ask what a museum was but Ginia answered his question before he could even ask it. It was a place where you learned history? That sounded like a really interesting place!

He nodded at her suggestion. "I bet Elfnein would love it! She likes history and learning things!"

He would ask her and they could come here one day!

"I'll leave a list of places you two can go."

There are all sorts of museums, zoos, aquariums, and historical sites they could both enjoy without going too far away from Tokyo.

Ginia finishes mapping out the route and leads the way through the grounds and out toward the nearest station.

"Ever been on a train?" she asks through her phone, keeping Romeo close by as they reach the busy station. With how most people seem to teleport around or run across rooftops or fly, it feels like the people who actually use the transportation system are fairly low. A pity, it's a nice system.

A list of places! They could have a really fun day out and learn lots and lots of things. He keeps following her sticking pretty close, he doesn't want to get lost!

He shook his head, wide eyed and excited. "No! Are we going on one now?"

Ginia nods and walks him through the step of buying a train card (she pays, it's the least she can do) and shows him how to use it to enter the gates. It's usable even on the train system closer in Tokyo so it'll serve him well.

With only a few minutes between trains, it doesn't take long for one to arrive, the station chime playing as the train pulls up to the platform. There's an open spot near a window; Ginia lets Romeo take the seat so he can look out the window while she stands. With several stops to go, Romeo has plenty of time to enjoy the city scenery passing by as the train rolls along.

Romeo watched as she used the machine to buy a ticket. He doesn't have any money to give her in return but maybe he can find another way to repay her at some time, or ask Elfnein, she will have a good idea. They went through barriers that opened and closed on their own and soon were on the platform with lots of other people. He stuck close to Ginia and watched open mouthed as the train came into the platform.

Once on the train he knelt on the seat looking out of the window. "We are going so fast!"

Yes he's flown on a magic cloud and regularly teleports but this isn't magic, this is something humans do and it's amazing!

Romeo's joy is a delight, though even Ginia can't deny there's a charm to them. The whole system is a feat of human engineering and precision and something to be respected. But even if shinki can leap along at a fast pace, there's something nice about watching the scenery go by.

The train slows as it approaches the next station, coming in at a precise stop. The station's jingle plays as the doors open, people getting on and off the train.

"We have five more stops to go and then we're going to walk a little to get to the house. We'll take the train back to the shrine too."

They were stopping? Romeo looked around at Ginia but it didn't seem like they were there yet, they were just picking up more people and dropping some others off. A good job because Romeo wasn't sure everyone was going to fit on the train!

Five stops! Romeo counted them as they continued, keeping up a running commentary at the exciting things he saw from the window. The city was really interesting and it was different seeing it out of the window of a train rather than on the street in amongst all the hustle and bustle.

Soon they were drawing to a stop for the fifth time!

"Is this where we get off, miss Ginia?" The train had been exciting, but now the task of delivering the invitations was about to begin!

Indeed they are. Ginia keeps an eye on Romeo as they leave the train, making sure he doesn't get lost in the crowd heading toward the exits. There are several exits and she makes sure they have the right one before going through the turnstiles. They're in a slight more suburban part of the city. Apartment buildings are still scattered around as well as some small stores, but there are also some houses too.

Their first destination is a small house with a small stone wall around the perimeter. The small area inside is full of potted plants - flowers, vegetables, and herbs - and a soft-looking moss lawn. There's a paved path up to the front of the house.

Ginia makes sure the letter is ready and a message typed on her phone to play. She straightens out her suit jacket before knocking on the door. There's barking from inside, the scrabbling of paws on wood.

"One moment, one moment," calls a voice from inside. There's quiet hushing from behind the door, a few more barks, before the door slides open. An elderly man looks out, adjusting his glasses as he peers at the two of them. At his side, an excited terrier paws at the ground and barks again. "Can I help you?"

Ginia bows and offers the letter to him, playing her message.

"Good morning. We're here to deliver a letter on behalf of your son, Ryosuke, and come bearing his wishes."

Romeo stuck close! He didn't want to get lost, when everything was so big and busy! Romeo copied Ginia and bowed at the man who opened the door. He grinned as Ginia played the message and the grinned at the dog, he looked friendly!

"He made this invitation specially for you, sir!"

"Ryosuke?" The man looks surprised, but takes the letter with a light chuckle. "It must be important if two young people are coming all the way out here. Come in, take a seat, have something to eat."

It's the sort of request from the elderly that can't be refused. The dog barks in agreement, spinning around in happy circles and running past his owner. Ginia follows, pausing to remove her shoes and line them up so she can step into them later.

The home is old, cozy, full of personal items but also a bit barren. He ushers them to the dining room, setting the letter down as he heads to the kitchen to make tea. Lucky for Romeo, the dog is very friendly and all to happy to investigate.

"Make yourself comfortable. Don't worry, Hachi is friendly. Are you two from the shrine?"

Romeo followed Ginia in, grinning back when the man was so friendly. He slipped his shoes off and lined them next to Ginia. He looks around, peoples houses are always really interesting! Especially human houses when they have had all their lives to put things in them that they want!

Romeo sits on the floor to say hello to Hachi, since they are being all formal and inviting this man he makes sure to sit formally too, just like they had been taught in training!

"Hello Hachi! Do you like strokes?"

It seemed Hachi did indeed like pets because he rolled onto his back and let Romeo scratch his belly. He glances up at Ginia, to let her answer the mans question, because... They aren't really. But Romeo doesn't want to lie and Ginia probably has a clever way of saying it!

The man came back a moment later, a tray of tea and a plate with some wrapped biscuits. "If I'd known I was having two young people visit me I would have picked up some snacks in the town, but hopefully you like green tea chocolate."

"We're volunteers. With how busy things are at the shrine, we thought we would help your grandson." There. It's as close to the truth as she can get without saying outright who they are. Of all the people to believe in gods and shinki, the former keeper of Ebisu's shrine seems the most likely to believe it, but why risk things?

She smiles as he returns, bowing her head thankfully, rising a bit incase he needs sitting down. "This is fine, thank you. We're the ones who came by unexpectedly. But we come bearing the will of your grandson. He would like to gather the family together in honor of Ebisu-sama, but I will let his words speak for himself."

"He wrote you an invitation because he would really like to see you, sir!" Romeo grinned from where he was still scratching Hachi's belly.

The man sat carefully and leaned forwards to start pouring tea. "Well since he sent you two all the way out here, I best read that letter."

He handed Ginia a cup and put another on the table, he smiled kindly at Romeo. I'd let that cool down young man, I know how impatient small boys can be." He seemed lost in thought for a moment before he picked up the letter and began to read.

Edited 2019-05-10 05:11 (UTC)

The letter isn't a long one, only half a page long. What it lacks in length, it makes up for in sincerity. A letter from a grandson to his grandfather, of the current head priest to the former head priest, a request for his support.

Ginia lightly blows on her tea, alternating between watching Romeo and Hachi, and the former priest. The man lightly dabs at his eyes as he folds the letter up and sets it on the table.

"Ahh, Ryosuke... he was always a good boy. Very shy, very sensitive, I worried about him. Managing a shrine is difficult work, especially one with such a long history. Tell me, what do young people, especially foreigners, know about Ebisu-sama these days?"

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