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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She's so petite that it's easy to take the next step. The screams.... they weren't nearly as loud when she'd been comatose and only silent-screaming her way through that possession business.

So he uses the collective strength of the people to lift her up into the air. There's no impolite touching because really there's no point, he's going to terrify her well enough as is - one on each arm, one on each leg, and one lifting by the base of her neck and upper back.

They start to carry her in an arbitrary direction, he doesn't even care. At one point though a car swerves to avoid the swarm of people as they cross traffic - but it's at the last second.]

[The scream catches his attention first. It's practically second nature at this point to go running towards such a clear cry of distress. It sounds like a girl, is all he thinks initially-- and then he sees her, carried overhead by a mob, and for the life of him he cannot fathom what in the world they think they're doing...!]

Put her down!

[He teleports in close the next second, up to the front of the crowd, staring them down in challenge. Maybe they'll listen and maybe they won't, but he's ready to fight them if it comes down to it.

For now, he hasn't gotten a good enough look at the girl to know more than she's in pajamas.]

[It's not real.

[It can't be real.

[Maybe you can feel pain in dreams. Maybe the stinging in her palms is all part of, of the plan, of whatever it is when your brain turns on you and takes a positive delight in scaring you senseless. Of course Aya fights it when they reach for her, when they lift her; of course, it does absolutely nothing but tire her more and all she can think is this isn't happening, because if it is she'll have to fear what happens next, too.

[She screams again, wordlessly, because there are no words left and there's no reason not to--

[At least that much is still working.

[And then there's someone shouting, though she can't work out what they've said. She only feels it when the - the people, the creatures, the monsters in her head stop moving, and for a giddy, horrible heartbeat or two she wonders if they're going to drop her.]

[Aww, it's one of the two Kitten Gods come to save the day. He laughs at the fact that it's Bombay of all people because they just can't seem to keep away from each other. And who's he to turn down a bit of fun when it comes running right up to his target?

And speaking of running, Schuldig knows that the Kitten is a God, but still a Kitten, and that means moral quandries about attacking the innocent mundanes around them. So, he does drop Aya - kind of. Several people holding her up stop doing so, but the two holding her by the arms don't. The ones that let go move to simply surround her - if they take up space, then he can't teleport directly to her. As far as Schuldig's aware, that's the only restriction with teleporting - can't stop in the same spot someone else is already. In effect, this does continue to conceal who it is that Bombay is trying to help.

One woman Schuldig's controlling actually removes the scarf that's around her neck and uses it as a gag on Aya, just to make things more difficult for the younger Fujimiya. Schuldig has no idea that Aya doesn't know him. Yet. She's about to become quite familiar with him, though.]

'Little Miss Aya... you're in trouble again. And this time, no big brother here to save you.'

[He reaches into her panic-stricken memories then, realizing she's still focusing on the car crash and thinking it's a dream.]

'And even if he does appear, I bet it'll be just another piece to your nightmare - with no memories of his precious sister.'

Edited 2016-10-22 04:01 (UTC)

[Omi can only watch in horror as they crowd in closer-- eliminating his ability to teleport in to grab her and move her somewhere safe-- and he hears the girl's scream cut off into a muffle. And at that point, he goes from being shocked to being angry. He doesn't have the slightest comprehension that an outside force is controlling their actions, leaving him only with the observable fact that they're hurting her and the appearance that it's wholly willful. That's enough to get him a bit dangerous. You do not hurt innocent people.

Which means later, if he ever realizes the irony of what's really going on, he's going to feel pretty terrible. In the meantime, he whips out that water at his side and slaps the nearest person across the face with it.]

I said let her go!

[That's probably the last warning they're getting before he gets rough.]

[If it's a dream, she needs to wake up. Wake up, Aya. Wake up--

[If this is real, it needs to stop.

[The worst thing is to know herself powerless. To - and that's like dreaming, too - to struggle against the grasp of strangers, her own heavy limbs, and to know that she is managing nothing but wearing herself out. They lower her down only to crowd so close she can smell them (laundry soap and perfumes and body sprays, and an undertone of the very human scents they're designed to conceal), she can feel the warmth bleeding from their bodies. On top of everything else she's far too hot.

[Aya screams again because it's all she can do, and then she can't even do that any more, and there's a voice in her head whispering to her, whispering - oh, whispering wild, crazy, unbelievable things, calling her by name, calling Ran by name and why, oh why would he ever forget her--?

[No. No, it's crazy, it's unbelievable. whose voice was that?

[Maybe she's so afraid she's gone crazy. It's the only thing that makes sense.]

[Schuldig is immediately confused when Bombay uses water as a weapon. He's always mocked Weiss for their weapon choices, but he senses the water strike incoming and thinks it's nothing at all - until the slap comes and his puppet goes crumpling to the ground. He releases the person immediately so that he can focus on what's changed about the youngest Weiss kitten.

Water manipulation? He thinks to himself. A telepathic control of the substance, almost as flexible as Nagi's skills, if the kid weren't such a novice at exercising his mind that way. That's when he has to stop and rethink his plan. What is the best outcome, knowing that both of them are Gods? She's scared and he's desperate, so all he has to do is convince her not to trust what Omi says.]

'You can ask that guy about it if you want, but he won't give you the answers you seek. He knows Ran, better than an acquaintance or coworker, and he also knows that your brother could arrive any day - but without his memories.'

[Then he smirks a bit.]

'See how he's attacking these people? He'll kill them if I don't do something to stop him. Shouldn't they be put in jail for attacking you, not killed?'

[Truth after truth, he piles information on the frightened girl. However, just to make things extra clearer, he makes her think that the man on the ground has a twisted arm and a bleeding head wound from his fall to the pavement.]

'I'll help you out in your brother's place. Just promise me one thing, Aya: that you'll stop screaming and start asking him questions. If you can promise me that, I'll be able to make sure he doesn't kill anyone - hurry!'

[Schuldig pulls a brand new person in a car towards Omi, veering off their route and heading at a fast clip toward the young man. Meanwhile, the crowd of people around Aya push her and themselves out of the way so that there's less chance the car will swerve towards them, no matter what Omi ends up doing.

In the end, despite Schuldig's puppeteering, two people end up stubbing their feet on the curb, sending the whole group of them crashing to the pavement in a heap. Now there's a man and a woman underneath of Aya plus two more men and a woman laying on top of her, all of them struggling to obey Schuldig's last order to pick her up and run away from the incoming car. Well, that could've gone better, but he supposes he's mostly accomplished his goals already, whatever she says in response - or doesn't, if she just keeps screaming.]

Edited 2016-10-24 02:05 (UTC)

[The car is approaching before Omi can press any further attack on the group. For just a moment, he's scared for himself. But then he's somewhat relieved because he can see some separation of distance there between him and the group of people, and really the girl's safety is more at the forefront of his mind than his own. He runs further away from them, and out of the way of the car... except it seems to have targeted him because it's still coming right at him. Shit!

Never let it be said Omi is a kid without a resourceful mind, however. Just as he seems doomed for collision, he teleports out of the car's path to reappear behind it. He sees the crowd in a pile a short distance away, the girl mostly buried under other people-- but exposed enough he can make out which of those arms is hers. Another teleport, to the outstretched arm and he doesn't care that he's crouched directly on top of someone's back. He takes a firm hold of the arm, concentrates, and teleports again, taking her with him.

In the span of five seconds, he's dodged the car, moved in on the crowd of people, and reappeared on the roof of the nearest building with the girl, safely removed from mobs and crazy drivers. He pulls the scarf away from her mouth and offers his arms to help her up.]

Are you all--

[And his question ends there because what he sees is too disturbing. He just got his first good look at her.]

[She isn't really listening to the voice inside her head.

[Maybe - maybe it makes sense. Maybe - there's a stranger and she stares at him, her eyes saucer-huge and white around the edges, hardly knowing if she should call out to him, or try to, or if he's just another piece of the same horrifying puzzle - maybe everything it's saying is true but she's too frightened to focus on it. Ran, it's mentioning Ran and her wrists are aching and her limbs too weak to hold her up, she can't even scream through the cloth in her mouth. Her mind is a whirl, her thoughts caught and tossed and utterly, utterly chaotic. I'll help you, let me go, please, oh please, just let me go. Blood on the pavement and the squeal of tires - again, again - and Ran's forgotten you, he won't even know your name. Ask him questions, don't scream, someone's going to get killed!

[Then there's nothing but chaos and confusion, the ground yawing away beneath her and tumbling to the floor in a chaos of arms and limbs. Aya lands heavily, sprawled over the body of a stranger; another stranger tumbles over her, knocking the breath from her lungs. Perfume and shampoo and sweat and the heat and the weight of too many bodies and limbs, and someone else's long, loose hair falling into her face and Aya can't breathe. She can't breathe, she's drowning, and she gags on the scarf and fees herself start to choke. She can't breathe--

[Then, just like that, she's weightless.

[And, just like that, she's on the roof of - of who knows where, in the arms of the stranger she's not supposed to trust. Aya bends double and coughs helplessly as he pulls the scarf from her mouth; she's shaking like December and snow, though the night is a mild one, and she's so scared and confused and so damn grateful to be anywhere at all she starts to cry.]

[Well that could've gone better, he thinks. Turns out she really is too distraught to answer right now, but at least he's planted some seeds of distrust in her.

And hey, the Weiss brat has finally figure out who she is at least. And she doesn't know who he is - how could she? He's pretty sure if she didn't recognize his voice she won't recognize Bombay--

Oh ho. Alright. Time to be subtle.

He reaches out to the young Weiss's mind and plants a thought without speaking to him -- 'What if she's a shinki?' Then however little he was going to tell her in the first place, he might consider telling her even less - for a little while.

He's already thoroughly wrecked Aya's night. Schuldig decides to wait around just a bit longer before interfering with the girl again.]

Edited 2016-11-02 03:03 (UTC)

[Omi panics just a little as she starts to cry. It's not even all that surprising in context-- what an ordeal she's just been through! Grabbed up by strangers and carried off, that had to be so terrifying. He's just not sure how to help her.]

Easy...! [He looks quickly around for anywhere to sit, but of course there's nothing. They're on a roof, after all, not a sidewalk. He lightly places a hand on her shoulder in the hopes it will offer some comfort. Or if nothing else, maybe it will make it easier for her to hear him.] It's okay.... you're okay.

[And he sees the trembling and whether it's because she's cold or scared he doesn't know and it doesn't matter. He sheds his jacket and drapes it over her shoulders, then pulls it closed by the lapels. It should be nice and warm since he's been wearing it. Regardless, he should probably get her out of here. The roof was no more suited a place for her than the middle of a mob, especially with her so distressed. She needs to be somewhere she feels safe.

What if she's a shinki? The thought is there and dismissed as irrelevant for the moment, simple as that. She doesn't know him either way, and he's not about to divulge a lot of details about himself either way. He doesn't register the thought as anything less than his own.]

You're safe now... Are you hurt anywhere?

[Hurt...?

[It's all been comforting nonsense before that pierces through the fog of - of, oh, she doesn't even know at this stage, terror and grief and hopeless confusion, and desperate gratitude. There's a hand on her shoulder, there's a jacket, warmed by the heat of someone else's body, draped across her shoulders and she clutches it closed, pulling it more tightly about herself. It's a gesture that says sure as shouting that the person she's with is worried about her, and he isn't going to try and do her any harm.

[It's not good, to be in tears in front of a stranger, but she can't seem to make herself care enough to want to stop. Her brother isn't here; her parents are gone; everything's upside down and inside out and even the strangers on the street can't just brush past her without a word--

[She shakes her head. No, she isn't hurt.]

I'm sorry! I... I don't--

[It's hard to talk, through her tears, and she doesn't know what she wants. She wants her mother, or Ran, or anyone familiar. She wants her own bed, and Miss Kitty. She wants to go home.]

What's happening to me?!

[Well he's officially not able to do any more damage to Aya now except to just freeze her in place, but that would reveal it was due his own efforts she got this roughed up. He still wants to do everything except provoke a physical confrontation. Alright, so if not that...

Ah, there's an idea - he places a little mental trigger in her mind. She probably already has the one, when she sees a car's headlights coming, but that one's personal to her family. This one will remind her of her own helplessness against the mob of people, dragging her around and lifting her. Her confusion, being in tears, alone and frightened... All of that he wants her to remember if someone else puts their jacket or blanket around her shoulders like that. Even someone with their arm around her shoulders, like an overly-friendly guy usually, or a girl trying to do a sideways squeezing hug. The kind of thing where she can't see the person's face who's doing it.

Meanwhile, he tries to do his best to personally capture how she's feeling. He wants to be able to bring that feeling to someone else, later on down the line, not just her. If he's forcing an emotionally powerless state on someone, this is the impression he wants to give them right here. That the only way out is for someone else to save them; that they can't do it themselves.

After that's all done, he's ready to mentally walk away from them completely, satisfied with what damage he's caused and held onto for a later payoff.]

What's... happening?

[There are any number of things that might be prompting that. Omi doesn't know if she's speaking in general about the fact that she's suddenly here or if there's something more going on. It's worrisome.]

I'm sorry. I know this must be so confusing for you... If it's all right, I'll take you to my home. It's safe there. You can rest and sort through some things, and I'll answer as much as I can for you. Okay?

[He flashes a sympathetic smile.]

My name's Omi.

Aya. Aya Fujimiya.

[She smiles back, shakily.

[It's crazy, it's foolish, it runs counter to just about every warning she's ever had about boys and men and what they can do to a girl, or to her reputation, but all she feels when Omi says he can take her home is another flood of terrible relief. She nods. She wipes at her eyes.]

Uh... would it be okay if we left now? I... I don't want to be here any more.

[Ridiculous. She's talking like a child... Aya doesn't care. Just get me out of here, please--!

[Anywhere's better. Anywhere at all.]

[He already knows that, but doesn't say so. It's the polite thing for her to do, to introduce herself back. He nods to her question, not blaming her one bit for that sentiment. What a horrifying and terrible experience to have just gone through.]

Yeah. We can go now. Hang on to me-- this will be two more teleports.

[Once she's situated, he focuses on the nearest shrine and takes them there. A pause, then another teleport to the entrance of a rectangular house with a smaller one and a pool behind it. Forest surrounds them with flowers and ponds in the surrounding yard. He opens the front door to a warm interior with clean lines and simple decor. Beyond the foyer is a living room with an arrangement of a sofa and two chairs with a coffee table. Floor to ceiling windows offer a view of the backyard and the swimming pool by the guest house.]

Help yourself to wherever you'd like to sit. I'll get you some hot chocolate.

[That seems like a nice relaxing drink, and one that will help warm her up, too. The kitchen is open to the living room, making it easy for them to continue talking while he prepares the drink.]

[She's expecting - Aya isn't sure what she's expecting. A journey, though, is definitely a part of it.

[What she gets is two eye blinks and a boy's arms around her.

[It's... disconcerting, she supposes, though after everything else she's endured in the last few hours the strangeness of it all hardly seems to matter. Wherever this is and however she got here, she's here: standing in front of a long, low house, surrounded by waving plants and the sound, close to hand, of running water. It's beautiful, it's tranquil, and it's safe, and when Omi beckons her in she follows him, gladly.

[It's funny, but now that she's standing in the light, now that she's safe and starting to warm up, Aya is suddenly and horribly aware that her feet are dirty and her hair's falling, in wisps, out from her pigtails, and she's still in nothing but a stranger's pajamas. She's head and shoulders the shabbiest thing in the room, and it makes finding somewhere to sit something of a trial. What if she tracks grime on the floor, or the upholstery? What if--

[But she's too tired, really, to care, and her legs won't support her for one more minute. Aya collapses gratefully into the nearest chair, and closes her eyes.]

Thank you.

[Not just for the hot chocolate.]

[Omi flashes her a soft, sad smile from over his shoulder as he moves to the kitchen.]

I'm glad to be able to help.

[Glad he found you, is what he means. Truly, what are the odds? His sister and Aya's sister both in the same evening. He would have wanted to help anyone being abducted by a mob, but knowing now just who it was.... it makes him shudder to think. What if something had happened to her? What if he'd been too late? For Aya's sister?

He gets a mug from the cupboard and fills it with water from the tap. It only takes a few seconds to heat it using his ability, after which he stirs in a packet of instant cocoa mix and carries the steaming mug to her. He also grabs the blanket folded over the back of the couch and whips it open so he can drape it over her lap. In part, it's to help her have a bit more of a feeling of being covered; it can't be comfortable to be with a stranger in nothing but pajamas. He doesn't even think about her being dirty or having messy hair.

That settled, he sits down on the sofa across from her and laces his fingers in his lap.]

Quite an ordeal you've been through, huh? I'll answer whatever I can for you now, but before I do, it would be helpful to know whether you were made a god or a shinki. Will you tell me, please?

[The blanket is warm, and it's soft, and she curls up in it, tucking her feet beneath her. The couch will brush off, right? Even if it wasn't embarrassing to meet a strange boy - and rather, she realizes as a few of the details she's been too distracted to notice creep into her awareness, a cute boy at that - in this state, her feet are just plain cold.

[She's grateful for the chocolate, and holds her cup in both hands, spreading her fingers about the sides to get the warmth.

[Aya doesn't really want to think too hard about the rest of it, about what she'd seen and done before she was brought to this place, this little bubble of warmth and peace, but the boy - Omi - isn't asking a lot, certainly not compared to all the things he's done for her already. She owes it to him to explain herself, at least, and the things he wants her to remember are at least the moments of bright and calm in between one terrible evening and... and, she supposes, another one. Aya doesn't know how she knows it unless it's the pajamas but she's certain that, somewhere between leaving the festival and sipping cocoa on a stranger's couch, she's lost time.]

Well... Someone mentioned Morpheus. I think that's Roman, or Greek. But I don't think I know what a shinki is.

[All of the color drains from Omi's face. He stares at her in blank, wide-eyed shock. Morpheus.

Ouka's god.

Aya is Ouka's god.]

[He's so glad he's sitting down already, he thinks he just might want to throw up. It's a relief, really, because yes, he by nature of association trusts Aya's sister to be good to her. He just hadn't been prepared to figure out who Morpheus was so quickly.]

I see... Your shinki is Ouka, isn't it.

Ouka!

[Aya sits up straight, her eyes going wide, the blanket slipping from about her.

[It doesn't occur to her, for a moment, to ask exactly how Omi knows the name, how a stranger (and he is a stranger) should happen to know her... her whatever Ouka is to her. Her friend, but friend is too simple. She's too startled to hear that name on the lips of someone she's just met, and too worried - now that she's wrapped in blankets and warming up, now that her selfish concerns for her own safety aren't leaving her numb and stupid and totally heartless - about what might have happened to the other girl.]

Yes, that's her! We got separated. Have you seen her, is she all right?

[There's the confirmation. Omi knew it had to be her, if she was indeed Morpheus, but the recognition in her voice erases any possibility for doubt.

It doesn't occur to him what that must mean about what Aya has seen. He's too stuck on the idea itself, that the girl he cherishes so much is bound to her.]

Yeah. I've seen her; she was here a short while ago. She's all right... I took her to your temple.

Thank goodness.

[Aya slumps back against the couch cushions, sighing in relief. He found her, too...

[She opens her eyes again. And isn't that strange? That the same boy should have been the one to find them both, to bring them away from that terrible, confused place to safety... that's a pretty big coincidence, isn't it? It's like something from a story.]

I'm so glad she's safe. That's funny, isn't it, that you'd find us both?

[Omi doesn't wish worry on Aya. All the same, it's meaningful to see the relief on her face hearing that Ouka is okay. That she already cares about her well-being is reassuring.]

I guess it is...

[Then again, people he knows tend to arrive in groups like this, so it's less surprising to him.]

I'm sorry. I took this conversation off on a personal tangent. So we've established that you're a god. That's good; it means we can talk without worry about overstepping the conversational boundaries that exist for shinki.

Since you've given your god name, it seems fair to give mine. I'm Diana, Roman deity of the moon, the hunt, and nature.

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