Closed

[bussounoshima]

Who: Sharak and Konzen, Sharak and the other hot blond too many Sanzos just too many
What: Two grown ass adults at Capyper Land, both swear they have a good reason for being there. Also: Sanzo party without the party and with extra Sanzo flavouring
When: May 9th, May 8th late afternoon, May 10th evening
Where: Capyper Land, Kanzeon's temple, does Tokyo even have dive bars
Warnings: Because they're at an amusement park for children and the happiest place on Earth, we must include warnings for gun violence, swearing, mention of child death and reckless child endangerment. But like, in a fun way.


[It's a courtesy call, really. Genjo had been pretty worn out after their chat the other night and Sharak wants to see how he's doing. After their discussion, she's pretty sure she knows where to find him too... And so she walks up to Kanzeon's temple and lets herself into the front yard.

Even if she can't find the Genjo she's thinking of, she wouldn't mind speaking to the other one. It really depends on which one she finds first.]



[She'd been asked to look into a childish spirit wandering around a theme park looking miserable so... Here she is. Sharak still isn't keen on this "God" business, but the best way to learn what's going on is occasionally to play along. For now, anyway. "Aditi" is everyone's mother and so of course she cares for lost children in need of protection. Sharak, on the other hand, is certainly no mother... But she's not opposed to protecting children anyway.

For now Sharak is stood by the wall outside a restaurant opposite a particularly large rollercoaster, watching the children run around screaming with an indulgent look in her eye. Maybe this isn't so bad.]

Comments

[bussounoshima]

[She wants a cigarette or even to finally drink some of the whisky sitting untouched in her hand. But no, not yet.]

People have died because of it, so yes.

[Human lives, youkai lives, centuries of relative peace, all thrown away. Fuck yes it bothers her.]

[existentialcrisis]

[ He eyes her for a moment, choosing his words. ]

What are you talking about, the minus wave? That wasn't me. It happened before I was brought on; if I had to guess, I'd say they tried to do something to their first sutra. I wasn't in Shangri-La at the time.

[bussounoshima]

[Eyes him back. Is she supposed to believe that? Really?]

Whether or not you started it, you were involved. You allowed them to continue abusing the sutras. You failed in your duties.

[existentialcrisis]

They probably shouldn't have given me a sutra in the first place. The system could use an overhaul.

[ He's looking more at other things than her, now; his thoughts are visibly drifting. ]

The resurrection experiment will never work, if it makes you feel better.

[bussounoshima]

No, I don't think it will.

[Which actually doesn't make her feel better.]

The youkai think they're fighting a war for supremacy, but if it keeps up as it is they're going to lose. [Gyokumen Koushu doesn't give a shit about the rest of her species.] And when that happens, they'll likely be driven extinct or close enough.

[existentialcrisis]

[ His gaze flicks back to her, flat and inscrutable. ]

Well, you're a Sanzo. [ He gestures to her with his glass, which is mostly ice, now. ] Let's hear your solution.

[bussounoshima]

[What is her plan? It had been to trust in the Genjo Sanzo-party and try to pick up the pieces wherever they lay when the fighting was done. Now they're here, Genjo was fired and there's a War God out to finish the job for them.]

... What I've been doing. Protect who I can.

[existentialcrisis]

[ That's not a plan, he almost says, but she has to know that. ]

So eventually they'll come for your sutra. [ He shakes at his empty glass, then glances at her, brightening a little. Hypotheticals are fun!! ] If they haven't already. If I were you, I'd sell me out to the youkai. You know, whoever shows up. They don't know I have a sutra. At least a few will have to go report it, and if you're lucky, they'll call everyone back when they realize I'm gone and they're at an impasse. And then they'll have to go looking for my corpse, I guess. It's probably in the woods somewhere.

[bussounoshima]

[Look, her plan was to raise an army and march on Houtou castle, okay, her plan was solid.]

That's an idea. But if Muten is laying in the woods somewhere, it's probably a better idea to find it before they do. They'll keep attacking me for Kouten anyway.

[Sharak leans back in her chair. She really doesn't think Ukoku's dead.] I could do with cheering up now. So, how'd your corpse end up in the woods?

[existentialcrisis]

A youkai. A strong one, I mean, not some idiot with a knife. That's the last thing I remember.

[ And he sounds casual about it, naturally. ]

I don't think I would have stayed to die. I probably got away when it was obvious that I was in trouble, and then didn't make it back to civilization.

[ Whoops!! Oh well! ]

[bussounoshima]

[Well, Sharak looks heartbroken, of course.]

They must have been pretty strong. One youkai on their own against a Sanzo priest... Anyone I might have heard of?

[existentialcrisis]

No. [ He waves that idea away. ] He followed me from overseas, actually. I guess he caught up when the time was right. [ For murder. ]

[bussounoshima]

Unfortunate.

[It's going to be a bitch finding Muten with just that to go off. Oh well, Kougaiji will have a hard time too then. Assuming Ukoku's right.]

[existentialcrisis]

[ He smiles at that, probably remembering that one time when she said she'd crack his head open on the table. That was nice. ]

Let's assume it's possible to go back. Would you accept a method developed by a disgrace? I might be working on something.

[bussounoshima]

[Good times.]

Accept, no. But I've listened to you spout bullshit long enough to let you keep going.

[existentialcrisis]

You're not nice. [ He stubs out his cigarette and digs into his sleeve again, this time for his phone. ]

It's pretty straightforward. Have a gate, which I do, and then have it lead where you want to go. The hard part is finding the coordinates, if you want to call them that. That's what I'm on right now. Do you want to see? [ He wiggles his phone. She doesn't even need to come over to his trash temple!! ]

[bussounoshima]

I'm not trying to be.

[No one else seems to mind her attitude, Ukoku. Clearly you're the problem here. Sharak eyes Ukoku's phone as if she's considering whether or not she'll catch some disease from touching it before holding out her hand for it.]

Have you even figured out a way to define the coordinates yet? I'm guessing longitude and latitude won't work.

[existentialcrisis]

[ He leans over the table, braced on his forearms, and sets it in front of her, but doesn't move to swipe through the pictures himself. There's a series of cells in triplicate, magnified to varying degrees; several more like it, all of different kinds of cells; his atrium, with its sloping stone floor covered in curved lines and writing, though it's difficult to make out what their purpose is from the angle—and a shot of a monkey's skeleton with a cartoonish monkey hat on its head, grinning with its pointed teeth at the camera like it took the picture itself. Someday Mr. Bananas will get an Instagram and be a star. ]

I started with visual identifiers. Like, um, a signature. It'd be a lot easier to work with, but it's pretty slow going. I'm getting an assistant. [ "Assistant" is a word for it. ] But I don't know, maybe this wouldn't be necessary with three sutras together… [ He grins at her. It could be fun!! ]

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak flicks through the photos, but they're not much use to her. She pauses on the photo of the stone floor, trying to recognise the curved lines and writing.]

Visual identifiers from the location or from the people here? [Gets to #monkeysoninstagram. God, who is this jackass's poor assistant. And yeah, three sutras together could be fun, or at least interesting. They could also be catastrophic. ]

... When you had Muten and the other two together, how did they react to each other?

[existentialcrisis]

From people. [ And he's just not going to elaborate on it; it's a little bit mad science.

He hesitates at the second question, apparently focusing on his upside-down phone screen. ]

When they were in the same general area, behaving themselves? They didn't. [ He looks up again, cheerful. ] But why ask when you can find out? Be adventurous!

[bussounoshima]

[/vague hand motions mad science

Sharak apparently thinks that over for a moment, still looking at the monkey selfie without really seeing it.] ... Tempting, but no. You never activated any of them together? I'm asking out of professional curiosity this time.

[So it's cool give her the deets.]

[existentialcrisis]

I didn't, personally. [ By himself, anyway. He slides his phone back across the table and slouches in his chair, looking away, toward the bar again. ]

I don't think I can describe it. Three, I would say, is localized. Two I wouldn't even think twice about.

[bussounoshima]

[Then who the fuck did- oh, damn it, this is about Koumyou isn't it. He's the only other Sanzo she knows with a connection to Ukoku and he had two of the damn things. Note to Sharak: talk to Genjo about this before Ukoku lures him into accidentally blowing up the Near Shore or something.]

... I think it depends on what you do with two. [Maten and Kouten hadn't done much, but they'd shut them down pretty quick at the time. She'd still felt that power stirring.] But you're saying three can still be contained?

[existentialcrisis]

[ He tilts his head side to side, yes and no. ]

For you, maybe, yeah. Genjo, I don't know. Maybe not. [ Not yet, ha ha. ]

[bussounoshima]

He's a strong kid.

[He's a grown man, Sharak... But she absolutely needs to talk to him about this. Figuring out how to explain it to him without talking about the past will be a problem, but it's possible he already remembers anyway. She can make it work.]

I'm guessing you'd be comfortable with all five though. [yeah right]