009 | Where Your Demons Hide

[godsoffortune]

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~

Comments

[asklepian]

[Wait until you see sliding automatic doors. Unfortunately, this particular establishment doesn't have one.

Julian counter balances enough that he can fairly easily reach out for the door--luckily between Hijikata taking half the girl's fairly slight weight and his own enhanced strength, this is now much easier. It was just awkward before.]

Possibly. We'll see what's available when we get inside.

[He pulls the door open, tilting his head to indicate he should go on inside.]

[scatteredbloom]

[ A nod of gratitude -because otherwise they might have been standing out there all day- and Hijikata heads inside, leaving Julian enough room that he can close the door behind them. Or at least, he hopes it's enough room.

Inside, however...

Everything inside is so different than what he's familiar with. At the very least, there could've been something that sparked a semblance of recognition, but aside from a floor, ceiling, and four walls, there really isn't much else. Then again, he's not entirely sure what he'd consider "familiar", either.

Still, there's something else that's slightly more important to him than furnishings and whether or not a woman who's not all there ends up on a table or on the floor. ]

What can you tell me about the situation?

[asklepian]

[It's different for Julian, too, but in the other direction--there's none of the technology in evidence that he's used to seeing, but he supposes the bare bones are there.

But if they were in his own timeline, there would be more than humans in evidence.

He sighs, and ducks under the woman's arm, fussily arranging her on a bench--so if she falls to either side, she'll be supported, and if she falls forward she'll encounter a table.]

Were you told anything at all? I'd rather not start in on something you already know.

[scatteredbloom]

Only the bare minimum. Taking someone who's pretty sure they were dead yesterday, dropping them into a situation such as this, and expecting them to be able to focus enough to recall what they're told was a really stupid idea.

[ That is to say, he knows his name, he knows he's dead, and he knows that trying to demand answers to any of the questions he had after waking does not work, because people get frustrated, throw their hands in the air, and send him to wherever here is and turn him loose. Okay, so maybe he doesn't know much about the situation at all because he'd been more concerned with getting his questions answered than caring about what they had to tell him, because what they were talking about sounded like some kind of bad fairy tale. ]

[asklepian]

[Julian sighs. Well, that's not much to work with.]

Yes, it really rather was. But it sounds like at least some of us are welcomed differently.

[He launches, then, into a detailed--almost clinically so--explanation of what he was welcomed by.]

We've been brought here as gods and spirits to answer prayers and combat creatures known, apparently, as ayakashi. The fact that you know you're dead, and nothing else, means that you're a shinki--according to what I was told, anyway. You're meant to be partnered with a god. I'm afraid that's me, in this case.

[He really doesn't like this set up, it just screams 'lack of free will' at him.]

Any questions so far?

[scatteredbloom]

[ Go figure that one group would preferential treatment over another in terms of what they're told, but whatever. The fact that he's been forcibly partnered to someone is annoying, but so long as they don't end up wanting to kill one another, it's fine. So far, so good?

There is one thing he wants to ask that hasn't been covered yet, though! ]

And you are...?

[ If he has to be partnered with him then he at least wants to know who this guy is. ]

[asklepian]

My name is Julian Bashir.

[He finds that more frustrating and disturbing than annoying. It's reducing a person's individuality, and he doesn't like it.]

I do want to be up-front about this--I'm just as unfamiliar with all this as you are, but I'm already finding myself not entirely fond of the idea. I don't want to impede on your agency in any way.

[scatteredbloom]

Hijikata Toshizo.

[ He went about it a little backwards -usually one gives their name first before asking it of another- but eh, it doesn't matter right now. They're both stuck in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, so a little bit of formality and proper-ness is allowed to fall by the wayside. ]

And likewise. [ Sigh. ] It can't be helped, though. I don't know what use I could possibly have as a partner, but I'm not foolish enough to give up without trying.

[ Without his memories, he may only be a dead weight, but that's for Julian to decide, not him. ]

[asklepian]

A pleasure to meet you.

[It doesn't really matter to him. It's the same in the end, and Julian's never had the strongest grip on social niceties anyway.]

We'll have to see, with what exactly it is that's expected of us. I'm not sure now is the time to worry about that, though.

[scatteredbloom]

[ His attention flits to the woman and he gives a slight nod acknowledging Julian's words. There's no point in hashing things out when there are more disoriented people out there who will probably walk into the side of a bus or fall into an open sewer grate. ]

Is it safe to leave her and make use of this facility to house others?

[ This place seems structurally sound, so it could probably be used as a refuge for the injured and lethargic to lessen the number of accidents out there, and ensure that at least some of them stay safe in the event something else occurs. ]

[asklepian]

[And since Julian is a doctor and can't leave anyone alone, that would mean he'd be stopping every 5 minutes to help people. No, best to be proactive about it.]

I'd presume so. They don't seem to be behaving in a way that would cause them to injure themselves.

[He gets up, tugging down his uniform as he does so.]

Let's see if we can help keep the chaos to a minimum.