thenearshore | 009 | Where Your Demons Hide

009 | Where Your Demons Hide

Who: Everyone!
What: Emergency demon fighting
When: Late May 5-Early May 6
Where: Just outside of Tokyo
Summary: The demon from the school has reared its ugly head again and needs to be taken down.

On the evening of May 5, the Heavens suddenly receive an influx of prayers from people in and around a certain town just outside of Tokyo. There seem to be a lot of people in the area that have suddenly stopped responding normally (or at all). The situation continues to spread as the night goes on until not only is the whole town suffering from this malady, but the neighboring towns are starting to become affected as well.

With so many gods and shinki on hand - including new ones that have just appeared - the Heavens have issued a request for any available gods and shinki to go investigate what might be happening down on the Near Shore. New gods and shinki will be given the low-down on what's happening, but not much more than that.

The situation will continue to expand until just a little before dawn, when the demon finally has enough power to revive.

Drained Humans

Many humans in the affected areas are walking around despondently. Oftentimes, they are just walking into things or getting hit by things. There have been a few car-related incidents as well. Anyone who was present for the high school incident will recognize these symptoms as something that was happening to people in the school. The glazed looks, the spiritless responses and reactions. So this should be fairly familiar to some.

No One's Safe

Unfortunately, being in the town will start to wear on anyone who is there. Gods and shinki alike will find themselves growing more despondent the longer they spend in the town. All of their energy will be slowly sapped from their bodies, and shinki in particular will feel almost like their existence is draining away.

Hellish Circle

There is a large park in the center of the town. Drawn all around this park is a magic circle, large enough to encompass the whole park. There are candles around the edges of the circle, and in the center there is a cup filled with blood covered by a mask with a swirling eye pattern on it. Stepping into this circle will not only make you extremely tired and suddenly drained, but it will also bring bat-like ayakashi bearing down on you.

The Demon

The Demon itself rears its ugly head just a little before dawn, springing out from the center of the magic circle and looking right pleased with itself. It stands about 5'8" tall, so it is largely unimposing, but there is an aura about it that makes it undeniable that it is powerful. The demon will gladly fight anyone who comes at it, though most he will just shove out of the way without a second thought.

In Summary:

Help the drained people
Try not to get drained yourself
Be careful about being corrupted
Fight the demon
Have fun~

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[ As if being pulled into this other reality and named a god wasn't bizarre enough, there's this whole... thing going on. And yet even that does not rock him like sensing Masaki.

Here.

And a teenager.

Kisuke had been keeping tabs on all of them during the night as he tried to herd people into safe places while trying to suss out just what in the hell was going on. When he felt her spiritual pressure start to falter, Kisuke abandoned his current task. ]

Easy there. I think we should get you out of the effective zone for a bit.

[ He stands there, not coming forward yet, but close enough if he needed to get to her quickly. ]

[If she only knew how strange it was for Kisuke. If only. She might have recalled him, might have thought of saying something. Anything.

But no; instead she had no memories, and was trying to herd people to safe areas, which was about as effective as herding cats sometimes. But she kept going until she was like...well. This.

There was a shiver of shock that went through the drained feeling. She had been feeling strange things all night but-one of the sources was right there. Right there.

She started trembling. Maybe if she'd had more energy, she would have lunged, or jumped forward but no. A hand came up, clutching her chest, over her heart.]

Who are you?

[And why could she feel him so keenly? She didn't know what she felt right then. Shocked, maybe. Light headed, certainly.]

Eh, apparently I'm now a Greek god. [ Go figure. ] Kisuke Urahara at you're service.

[ Kisuke isn't quite ready to buy into this whole god thing and probably never will be. That's a distant consideration though. Undoubtedly, Masaki felt his spiritual pressure and that makes for quite an interesting predicament. ]

Really though, I do think you'll start feeling better once we get you out of the affected area.

Apparently?

[She would have laughed, but this was just too weird. Really strange. She thought she could feel the spiritual presence of her god because she belonged to him.

But there had been all these different pressures and one of them was Kisuke...and she felt a little overwhelmed.]

I-I don't know.

[Her hand dropped from her chest.]

I mean, I feel kind of...you know but...there's something really weird something going on.

Oh? Weird how?

[ He knows, or at least suspects, but that's not exactly a conversation they should have. Kisuke waves one hand. ]

It could be related to what's going on here.

Maybe, I...don't know. I felt my god but...he didn't feel the same as you. In my ...head? Body?

[She touches her head. She feels confused, and being drained is getting her thoughts all jumbled up.]

I've been feeling more and more tired but you...it's like you're full of red energy. How...?

[She forces herself to blink rapidly. She's starting to flag, despite the shock of having Urahara around.]

C'mon, we can talk as we walk. You really do need to get out of the affected area for a little while.

[ Urahara comes to stand next to her just in case she's more drained than she looks. ]

As far as what you're feeling from me, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you have some extra sensory abilities. [ He's read the network enough to have a better idea on why telling a shinki about their past is a Bad Thing. He won't leave Masaki in the dark on her abilities at least, but framing what they are must be done carefully. ] In my world, I'm different from most people and my guess is that's what you're picking up on.

But the full explanation is pretty long winded. Might be better to save it until you're feeling better.

Okay.

[She doesn't argue; he's right. Masaki starts off, if a little wobbly on her feet. She'll be fine, she reasons, if she keeps moving. And thinking. Extra sensory abilities...]

So...I might be picking up that you're different. And I've picked up that Dio is different, and Kurama is different. But you're all different in different ways. I don't know why.

[She frowns up at him, brushing her hair out of her face.]

Can you tell me why? Later?

[She supposes they could meet up at his temple, or at the cafe...]

This is kind of a guess. [ He begins to explain some as they walk. ] But from what I've gathered, we keep any abilities that we have from our worlds here to at least some degree. So it's not out of the realm of possibility.

[ An easy explanation and not a complete lie at least. Kisuke nods at her question; 'later' means he's got time to come up a plausible explanation that doesn't edge onto anything personal. ]

Sure! I'd be happy to do so.

[ Urahara stays within arms reach just in case. ]

So...people from my world could have had this? Maybe it's something everyone had.

[It's possible! She likes the idea, but does that mean she's the only one from her world? Maybe. And...oddly enough, she can't bring herself to care. She has her God. She can make new friends.

It's enough.]

Thanks. I...um, where would you want to have the talk? In tow-

[She trips. Normally she'd catch herself easily, but the draining effect has dulled her reflexes.]

[ Not one to let a friend faceplant into concrete - usually - Kisuke slides an arm out to steady Masaki. He doesn't draw attention to it and as soon as she's on her feet again, he pulls back like nothing happened. ]

After all, this is over. [ He glances back at the park with eyes slightly narrowed. ] I think we're all in for a long night. But I should be at my temple pretty often. So whenever you feel like visiting, just drop on by.

[Glad she isn't the one that fell on her face this time. Smooth as it had been, she shot him a grateful look.]

Thanks. And...I think you're right.

[She didn't know why they were having the problems in town, but...still. They had their hands full, and she needed to do what she could...after she got her energy back that was.]

I'll come and visit later then. Is there...maybe I can bring something? A kind of...I don't know.

[Her voice drifts into a sleepy mumble, and she blinks rapidly. It's getting harder to focus for some reason.]

Just bring yourself. [ Then he adds: ] I can carry you out of here and it might be better.

[ She looks like she's about to fall over. Maybe it's just the effects of whatever this is. Maybe it's something else. Either way it wouldn't be good to stick around here any longer. ]

I-

[She was about to protest that she was fine, that she could do it but...she takes a moment to think about it. He's right. It might be better. She's gotten so tired that her sense of balance-usually quite good-feels completely off.

She'd rather not, but she's making them dally, and the sooner they're out, the better. There's nothing that says he won't be drained either.

Masaki takes a deep breath, and offers a wobbly bow.]

Thank you very much, Kisuke-san. I'll be relying on you.

[ Kisuke waves the fan before snapping it closed and tucking it away. ]

It's fine. [ Hat secured and hands clear, Urahara holds one out to her when she wobbles a little more. Either this phenomena is hitting her hard, or she's been here too long. Getting her out of the town will rectify it (should) in either case.

He's got enough left to get them both out of here quickly. ]

[The most important thing is making sure the hat is secure!

But she has been out here for awhile, and resisting the lethargy. Or trying to in any case, for all she's been running around. First to help people, and then to try and find her god-in case he needed to fight.

In any case, she takes Kisuke's hand, and steps closer. Maybe, just maybe, it'll be all right to just trust and close her eyes for awhile.

Maybe she could let go. Foolish as it might be, she trusted him to keep them both safe, until they were out of town-or at the far shore.

She did manage to say something, soft and sleepy.]

Thank you.

[As if she'd already forgotten she'd said that.]

[ Stifling a sigh, Urahara scoops her up before she can fall asleep on her feet. Apparently, he's a pack mule tonight. That isn't what made him sigh though. Rather the fact that she's here and far too young - among other things.

Once he has a good hold on her, Urahara takes the path with the least amount of spiritual signatures on it. It should keep them well away from danger until he could get her out of here. ]

Just take it easy, hmmm?

[ What a mess. Zangetsu and Masaki. Both shinki. He supposes that might be preferable to one of them being God, but only barely. ]

[Without thinking of it, she leans her head against his chest. She felt the sigh, but she didn't know what it meant. Or care too much. There was the feeling of his warmth, and the pressure which was still startling and comforting at once.

She murmured agreement, but she went quiet. She might have fallen asleep by the time he had said that, from the way she had gone limp in his arms.

Well, it could have been worse.]

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009 | Where Your Demons Hide

No One's Safe: A

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