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

[falseshore]

[He's smug about that as well, even as he's debating whether or not to attempt to get the kid some medical attention. If anything, his nose is just badly broken and worst case scenario it'll heal crooked.

He's just starting to drag the kid over to a nearby wall and haul him into a seated position when Schuldig decides to talk, startling Riku.]

What? Who the hell--?

[No one's talking nearby...it's when the man starts talking again he realizes his voice is in his head.]

'No! He was the one who started it! Who are you and why do you care?'

[volksdaemon]

'You can ask Sora why I care. The name's Loki.'

[He uses the kid's hand to raise up slightly - then wave loosely, very mannequin-like.]

'Yo. I may have been the one controlling your little punching bag friend here.'

['May' as in 'definitely was.']

'I see you're nothing like your God. Always ready for a fight. I like that in a shinki.'

[falseshore]

[He's staring at that hand like it's a snake. That's creepy, don't do that.]

'Y-you can do that?'

[His response might sound a little unsure, a little scared. Just a little. The controlling what he's focusing on, because the name 'Loki' doesn't mean anything to him; he's not familiar enough with the Norse pantheon.]

'Ye...ah, Sora's about the friendship. I like fighting, it makes me feel better for some reason. That doesn't mean I like people sending puppets after me and talking in my head.'

[volksdaemon]

'I wasn't asking if you liked it. That's just how I am, an ability of mine. Comes as naturally to me as fighting does to you. It also makes me feel good.'

[For his own value of 'good' anyway.]

'If you're such opposite personalities, I wonder why you've stayed his shinki. If you had to come out here all on your own, it doesn't sound like he knows how to use you properly, not at all.'

[Ah he loved this point with shinki, reminding them of the pecking order. Don't hate the player, hate the game.]

[falseshore]

'Because he's my friend, that's why I stay with him. Is it swordfighting? We might agree on something if it is.'

[Though they haven't been answering any prayers lately. He knows the reason for that--he's part of the problem--but it means he's been pretty much, well, neglecting his duty as a a shinki. At least one of them.

He thinks they should probably be better at battling together than they actually are.]

'We just need more practice.'

[But it's sort of true. He can't fault Sora for not knowing effective card-battle techniques, but he wishes Sora would change up the attacks once in a while. He knows what he can do better than Sora can, and he's the one with the fewest memories between them.]

[volksdaemon]

[Ah, the lame kind of reasoning he can't fight nearly as easily. Those free-floating thoughts he can latch onto and use a bit easier, though.]

'And yet you're here alone, not getting that practice in.'

[He doesn't understand the difference in combat but-]

'A better God would be able to understand the gulf there and pick up your fighting style without needing to waste so much of your time. Some Gods can sense that sort of thing.'

['Some,' right. Him. He means himself. And he can just leave off the fact that it's a power he had before even becoming a God.]

[falseshore]

[There's a few seconds between what Schuldig 'says' and what Riku replies. He's not well-versed in the art of deflecting mind-reading but is at least savvy enough to replace a stream of consciousness with mental tuneless humming.]

'Are you one of those gods?'

[volksdaemon]

[The humming would normally bother him if he wasn't so focused in a dozen places, waiting for the Demon from those circles to appear - if at all. He could have penetrated deeper to find out what all the young man was considering, but right now Schuldig is just tugging on some puppet strings as far as he's concerned.]

'So I've been told.'