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

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.

No, it's fine. I... I would have wanted to know. So it's good to know she's safe. It seems I've really got a lot to thank you for.

[She smiles, and for all the tumbled hair and red-rimmed eyes, it's bright and genuine. If Ouka is safe, there's nothing to worry about - nothing, at any rate, that would have meant she couldn't stay here, at least until she feels a little less unsettled.

[Aya takes a sip of the chocolate. It's warming, and sweet. Soon, she understands, she will need to sleep...]

[She blinks, though, sitting up a little straighter, at what Omi says next.]

Diana? Isn't that a girl's name?

[Well, Morpheus was a boy, wasn't he? The realization makes her blush a little, and just like that she's fighting back a giggle.]

Diana, and Morpheus. It's like they got us backwards!

[There is a reason that Omi uses the gender-neutral term deity, thank you.

He can't really complain, though. If it makes her feel better-- and she does look like she's feeling that way-- he'll gladly suffer a minor humiliation. Without complaint, he offers a wry, fond smile.]

Yeah. The original Diana was a goddess. I can assure you I'm 100% male, though.

[And he's learned, over time and through a barrage of teasing that has become a trickle, that the best way to avoid getting teased about it is to not be so self-conscious about it.]

The reincarnations seem to be based more on how suited someone is to what a god presides over than to whether the gender matches. One of my friends here had the same thing happen to him.

Well, now you know a girl it's happened to, as well. And I'm definitely a girl.

[An untidy girl who needs a bath and a better set of clothes, but definitely a girl--

[Aya colors a little, pulling the blanket higher about her. And then she takes another sip of her drink. It's good hot chocolate, warm and sweet and heavy on the tongue. It is a little embarrassing, for all it's funny to meet someone else it's happened to - but she nods at Omi's explanation. That makes sense of it, or at least she supposes it does... though, really, dreams? It's not like she's the kind who spends her weekends sleeping in.]

You must really like nature, then?

[He does indeed now know a girl it's happened to. A girl who's already looking much better, a testament to the kind of resilience she must possess. Looking at her now, you never would have guessed she'd just escaped a crazy mob carrying her off.

His smile broadens.]

I do. This house is like a paradise to me.

[Except for the part where he misses his friends, but he's not going to mention that part. Not directly, anyway.]

Every god here has two things: a temple, and a shinki. The temple is your house, and the shinki is your-- partner. You got the 101 from someone earlier, right? About needing to name her, and about ayakashi?

I think so. It was... a bit confusing.

[It felt like a dream.

[Still does, really. Everything that happened, all the people she's met - so little about it seems real. Aya knows she can't be crazy, she's met far too many people telling her exactly the same thing; but even that is like a dream, with its own internal logic. It makes sense for now, she supposes, but in the cold light of day she'll wonder why it is she couldn't tell she was walking in a dream.]

Um, would you mind telling me again? I mean, not the bits about me or Ouka. Just the bits everyone knows. I... well, I don't think I took a lot in.

It's extremely confusing at first, isn't it? And a lot to try to remember when you're already disoriented. Feel free to stop me at any time, if you need anything repeated or elaborated on.

[And with that, Omi starts reviewing the basics of being a god. Teleportation; the god power one gains; the risks of revealing information about a shinki's past life to them; the mechanics of fighting ayakashi, including pure water and rending with a shinki; and more.

Once all of the topics everyone knows about have been explained, it's probably nearly time to see her to her own home. There are just a couple of other things he needs to cover for her that are more specific to their own group. The group that she probably doesn't even know she's a part of because the common denominator is missing.

The conversational smile, patience and gentle manner give way in that moment to a more somber expression and tone.]

I know I've told you a lot already, and this is still a lot to remember... but before you go, there are a few other things that you really need to know.

Edited 2016-11-20 03:28 (UTC)

I will. Thank you.

[And, with that, Aya settles down to listen.

[A few minutes later, she's well over halfway down the cocoa and very glad she's sitting down, given how her head is spinning. It really is a lot to try and take in, though this boy's explanation is considerably better and much less baffling than the one she had before. It's like going from a teacher who simply rattles off what's in the textbook to one who takes their time and gives the background, and is willing to stop to explain. All the same she's done so much nodding her neck feels funny, and wishing she'd thought to ask for a pen.

[And, just when it seems that he might be winding up, his expression shifts, and he tells her there's more, and that's like school, too. The funny thing is that it's almost a comfort. School, at least, Aya understands.]

What is it?

[What else could there be?]

[Now the real trick: how to keep talking and not overwhelm her with everything else. Also, where on earth to start.

Most of all, she has to know about Schuldig and Tot. To know about Schuldig and Tot, he'll have to explain why they're dangerous to her. And to explain how he knows they're dangerous to her, he'll have to... oh boy.

This is not going to be a fun conversation. But if it's for her safety, he'll do it.]

I guess, first of all... You should probably know that we already have a common connection. I know you've never seen me before, but your brother was a good friend of mine.

You, too?

[It's funny, but it makes her frown.

[It's easier to believe coming from a boy like this. At least he's about the right age to have known Ran back home. Even so - really? Maybe it's not like when they were kids, when she could name pretty much all the boys Ran was friends with and he could do exactly the same about her girl friends, but the idea that Ran has so many friends she's never heard of is... well, it's disconcerting. How does he know all these people?]

You know, you're the second person tonight who's told me that?

[And at this, Omi sits up in mild surprise. 'You too'... while not impossible, was definitely not something he was expecting.

Please let the other have been--]

Really? So you've met Youji?

[He trails off hopefully, because that's truly the only other name that's both credible and desirable. Ken and Ouka are shinki. Schuldig and Tot are enemies. Nagi is both-- sort of. Youji is the only other one.]

You do know him!

[Now Aya smiles, in genuine relief. It's not that she didn't want to trust Youji, really it isn't! It's just... well, Omi really does seem a lot more like someone Ran really would know than he did. And if he knows Youji, then... well, then Youji really had been genuine, after all. After everything else she's seen, the confirmation is more than welcome.

[But she's spoken without thinking, and the moment her brain catches up with her mouth she's sorry. It's not a nice thing to think about someone's friend.]

I... I'm sorry. I know it sounds awful. It's just - well. He's quite a bit older. Than Ran, I mean.

[And Omi smiles in genuine relief too, because it was him. That's so much better than it being Schuldig, who he was really afraid of it being.]

Not at all... I'm glad you're cautious that way. I know your brother would be glad, too. Youji is quite a bit older here than I remember him. I'm not sure what happened or how, but it's definitely him.

You can trust him.

[Possibly extremely bad judgment on Omi's part, but at least it's sincere?]

Thank you. I'll let Ouka know, when I see her.

[And that makes her smile, too.

[And... and after that she's not quite sure what to say. She fidgets a little with the hem of the blanket, she shifts her weight. The conversation, she can tell, is far from over.]

Well, um... How do you know Ran? From school? Well, he's left, but... you know.

009 | Where Your Demons Hide

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