In a lesser-used basilica, tucked in the bosom of the lavender marble heart of Neo Jimazan, Perfection taps across the atelier at just the right speed to keep their robes caught in the air of her passage. They are tall, for an Erohin, but they are still not as tall as half of their entourage of charges. This particular entourage includes Tracy whose kotodama is rattling peaceably on their shoulder. Perfection likes to keep several of their charges on hand for appearances, and in case they need a person-shaped wall to shout at.
From the other direction, Brilliance eases across the floor in soft-soled slippers, ushering their pet Sora toward a door where Perfection halts, combing their fall of platinum hair with long fingers. Brilliance’s hair is kept in loose, ropey plaits, soft and black as pitch.
“You…” It’s clear Perfection is struggling to find a civil alternative to what first came to their mind. They run a finger behind a crisp fold in Brilliance’s robe.
Brilliance cracks an easy smile. “Perfection! Long time no see. No hard feelings? I’m guessing they put you on the committee.” Their voice has a silky quality of elongated pauses and fricatives.
Perfection takes in a breath through their nose and raises a finger to respond.
“Tenshi!” The door bursts open, and Conquest barks a hearty laugh, eyes sparkling with sincerity. “With you around, we’re going to crush this foul darkness so fast. -though... I hope not too fast.” Guilt draws Conquest’s posture inward as they touch their fingers together. They’re wearing stiff armour and a pleated skirt. There are not many skirts in Neo Jimazan, but Conquest manages to wear theirs in a way that is both inappropriately feminine, and inappropriately masculine. The sides of their head are shaved, and their hair hangs in a messy mane of wavy brown hair.
A cat with fur like midnight strolls out of the room to rejoin Brilliance’s entourage, and Brilliance sits on their heels and leans in to hear the nekomata’s report. “It’s a reunion then? Curiouser and curiouser…”
Conquest turns to the side to let Perfection and Brilliance through. Sora and Junpei make eye contact from across the room. Junpei is setting a table with papers and crayons, and Temerity bolts up from their seat, upset with the Pounding Feet, but they address Astre, “Tell this one to bring another sheet, as I have finished with this one.” Temerity has bright blue eyes like hyacinth flowers. Their clothing leaves a lot of tattooed skin bare: a high-collar spandex top, cropped at the midriff with ornamental shoulder pads, and sheer, baggy pants.
“You’re not meant to draw outside the maze, Temerity. It breaks the rules,” says Maturity, leaning back in their furs and brushing a stray curled lock of red hair out of their eyes. “Not that I expected any less from you, it just bears saying.”
Raven returns to Maturity’s side to report that Frivolity won’t send up any more ambrosia. This devastates Maturity, who clutches their chest dramatically. There are five Erohin here, but there are six chairs at the table.
Perfection storms into the room, heels clicking, until they are at the center of the table. “Let’s stop wasting our time with Frivolity and rid ourselves of these insufferable hunters already.”
“Don’t recall it being that easy last time…” Conquest’s comment is met with a room filled with silence. “I mean… they know how to hurt us is all. Jealousy is still missing an arm, and you-” The room immediately dissolves into endless bickering.
Sora's eyes immediately leap to Iskander when he calls out her name, causing her to stumble slightly and in a quite unsightly manner. The girl-turned-woman was still always easily distracted.
Chessa curls one of her tails around Sora's leg to remind her that she's not alone, before taking a moment to confer with brilliance, but then, keeping one eye on Sora, she notes the path to Junpei drawn inextricably in the air. She moves in just the right paths to thwart any would-be attempts to maneuver freely through the room - legs must be properly inspected for body-to-width ratios, after all - to investigate all of the charges.
Her large, unblinking, blue eyes take in each person up close, before she allows them to close, as if taking a portrait of the person with a backdrop of darkness. Eventually, she plops down and begins gnawing at the crook of her ankle, directly in front of Junpei, who she does not particularly recognize, but who her 'master' seems to, and that was enough. She didn't deign to speak, for now, considering the grooming to be far more important, and the particular space directly in his way of reaching anyone else of interest to be the best form of real estate.
When one looks upon Chessa, her fur is every bit as black as Tenshi's hair, but some trick of the imagination leaves the indelible memory of a stripe somewhere on the cat's form, but it's never there when you look for it. Her eyes are brilliant blue, and her teeth are a pearly white. Her tail is split just barely at the tip, forked, rather than two tailed.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Crayons. Why crayons? They'd always insisted on them, but he'd never known why they'd taken to them so quickly.
...or rather, which of the Erohin had ended up demanding them. Funnily enough, he didn't think it was Frivolity. He wouldn't be surprised if it was Brilliance. Sh...they...always seemed to be trying to play with even the other Erohin. It was never certain what sh- THEY were thinking, but they always had something from what he's managed to learn of them.
Dodging the pronouns was still hard. Neither he, or she, had gotten used to it yet. It was something the two of them had to be careful of with the Erohin.
In some ways, failure hadn't turned out too badly for Junpei. He'd lost weight. His uniform was made from fabrics he could only have dreamed of getting his hands on before. And for all the problems that had come with this shift, Chusuke had gotten lucky with his assigned role and Erohin. It was honestly a little relieving to know he'd managed to get through this well in the end.
But failure was failure, and it was still crushing. He'd lost so many of the things he'd loved, the second identity he'd found as he'd become a magical girl originally couldn't come to the forefront in the same way it had in those couple of days...not that it mattered anyway, since even if he could switch between those bodies as before, these damnable outfits would conceal their differences.
Even after so long, and having had it so briefly, they still missed that.
As Junpei finishes setting the table, and steps back to avoid the building argument between Erohin, all he can do is sigh sadly as the nekomata assigned to attend Sora decides to make sure that he can't get anywhere.
...Sora. There was someone who really had suffered from all this. Seeing her state hurt him more than anything else.
Junpei's form had gotten fitter over the years...not that the details of that can really be seen, since the military-esque outfit he's been given to wear manages to be simultaneously form-fitting and concealing of his shape, smoothing over the features that distinguish his body type. His hair is cut short, and without his old dye and contacts, he's back to being black haired and brown eyed. The brightness and cheer has faded from his demeanour from what it used to be, leaving a certain sense of fractured resignation in its place. Standing at his same old 5'7", he simply remained quite and waited for it all to pass.
...what he wouldn't give to have his old wardrobe back. He regretted not at least trying on that old outfit he'd made for the rave when he'd...or at the time, she'd had the chance.
Sora doesn't really know what she's even doing here. The fact that Junpei was here leaves her with a pang of panic... Which rapidly resolved into what looked like the vestiges of hope. If they were gathering the Midnight Crew together, maybe there was a chance for things to change. Evolve. Grow.
Her shoes felt too heavy, she'd never been a fan of boots. But since many jobs required them, most wore them when they worked. It turned most of her walking into a trudge... But at the moment, her footsteps were light.
She was the first of the humans to break from their position to cross the room. She hadn't seen Junpei in forever, it seemed. The tiredness in her eyes was still there, but the hopelessness had abated.
Whether she noticed the response at her leaving her Erohin's side or not wasn't immediately certain, what with her focus on the Time Traveler.
Before she can open her mouth to speak, the little cat balled at Junpei's feet speaks, and it's the voice of a child that comes out. Vaguely feminine from the squeak.
"Hello. This is my charge, Sora, and I'm Chessa. A Prreasure to meet me, I'm sure." the cat says, staring up at Junpei. And the thing was grinning at him.
As the midnight black cat sines by, the severely modestly dressed young...
Woman?
Yes, clearly a woman, her form might not have the ludicrous curves one would expect from such obvious gaijin-taint, still there is no doubt in anyone presents mind this person has yet to free themselves of the tawdry concept of gender.
The young woman strokes the black-cat's back as it stalks by her while she attends to the last few touches necessary to be certain the chamber meets Perfections standards
or at least, doesn't fall irredeemably short.
A weak smile creeps onto Junpei's face at the shift in Sora's disposition. She still had something left in her...that was good.
He still wasn't able to muster too much cheer yet, though. Too much resolve. Time hadn't come yet that he'd regained his trinket, and all the things that came with it, leaving him just as blind and downtrodden as he'd been at the start of it all just then.
Not that he couldn't still change what he did then as well...it was just much, much harder.
Before his old self could even utter a word to Sora, though, the grinning cat that accompanied her interrupted them both. He gives a brief look of apology to Sora, before looking down to Chessa and giving her a smile that wasn't quite so pristine as it was back when he still worked in the cafe. "Junpei. And it's indeed nice to meet you. I'd introduce you to Avis, but I don't know where h-they're hiding at the moment." Presumably, he'd found a perch in the room somewhere he couldn't see. Hard to know where that speedy devil was til he was shooting through the air.
He looks up from Chessa to...her charge. "Good to see you again too, Sora...hope you've been managing to cope with all the changes."
His eye can't help but be drawn to the other woman in the room with a certain sense of longing, that desire to have the freedom of gender identity back the way that she managed to hold onto hers somehow. His gaze pulls away, certain imprinted trainings from a time yet to come preventing him looking at her longer than was ideal for the moment, but the want doesn't fade so quickly.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Avis is on Junpei's shoulder like a bolt of lightning. "You might not think I saw that, but I saw that. It's bad enough Perfection took in such a deviant, I don't need them corrupting my star player. You've made so much progress, Junpei. I don't want to have to report you to Conquest. You were out of commission for a week after last time." The reminder makes Junpei's body ache. Conquest settles most disciplinary actions in hand-to-hand combat. Something catches the serpent's gaze, and they coil for another leap.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Astre bows their head slightly, and head toward Junpei. The clothes they wear are uncomfortable, the makeup caked on. There had been quite a bit to perfect on Astre. Their eyes were watering, still adjusting to the contacts that turned their green eyes to a more sightly blue.
They trudged on. Eyes downcast. Two weeks ago, he would have stalked, or strode, a soldier in the darkness. but they couldn't anymore. If they failed, they would be cast out... maybe. He'd never see Cygnus again.
Temerity wants- Astre starts, before Johanna stops them How we phrase things is important, Astre. they say, the light emanating from them modulating slightly as they speak, the words magically delivered into the minds of those nearby.
Temerity Would very much like a new colouring sheet, as they have contented themselves with the state of the previous one. they finally say to Junpei. then, in a show of servant solidarity, offers his left hand, saying my name is Astre... you may have heard a bit about me.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"This one is not a deviant!" The drudge-like woman mutters sullenly sotto-vocce, "this one is simply yet to achieve-" her eyes flick towards Perfection as she cuts herself off suddenly, perhaps realizing her internal monologue wasn't.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Raven stares at Maturity for a few moments before realizing it might be rude. It wasn't as if they needed supervision, lest their form. In fact, Raven thought, I should stand a bit away just in case they try to ask me for anything else. While it likely wouldn't deter them, at least Raven would have the comfort of pretending it did.
Spying the other cohorts begin to congregate, Raven turns to the pixie on his shoulder. "Nyx. May I..." Gesturing with his hand, he points to the group. Nyx, not paying attention, shrugs her pale shoulders before giving a deep yawn. "Don't know why I asked." Raven mutters dryly, both to Nyx and himself.
Adjusting the collar to his flashy red clothes, Raven strides his way over to gathering. Hearing Astre's introduction, Raven simply includes himself. "I am Raven." Nyx, always happy to see new people she can annoy, chimes in. "And I'm Nyx! Must have missed your names, can I get them?"
Back when the Jaculus had first been assigned to Junpei, his sudden appearances had reliably made him jump each time as he managed to always appear from seemingly nowhere, but now he was more used to it. He still wasn't easy to deal with, though, just from the sheer fact you never knew where he was or when he would appear...just that he was there, somewhere.
Junpei can't help but shudder at the thought of another disciplinary action. "Apologies, Avis. I'm doing my best."
He turns his attention to the...sudden crowd that had gathered around him. Almost like how it used to be. He felt a little more in his element as he looked over them all. He takes Astre's hand, shaking it in a familiar manner he had a hard time making sure didn't carry backward. "Well, if I'm doing introductions again...I'm Junpei. That-" He starts to gesture to his shoulder, only to find it suddenly empty. "-was Avis..." Would it kill him to stick around when he was doing introductions? It was only polite.
He shakes it off. No time to fuss over that. "That's Astre, who...I have to apologise, I don't think I've heard too much of you before now." He looks over to the duo of woman and cat that first approached him. "And these are Sora and Chessa, respectively...speaking of which..." He looks down to the cat at his feet, implacable stripe nagging at his mind. "Would you mind moving so I may see to the needs of Temerity?"
He would have winced at the response of the woman Avis had rebuked him over, but he wasn't sure he could afford even that much at the moment.
Satisfied that those with reason to be present find the chamber...
satisfactory, Tracy makes her way unobtrusively outside the circles of conversation forming before modestly retiring to the hallway.
I'll just stay out of their way until they're done & Perfection wants the room tidied up again.
As always, just as she has found herself a quite nook to await her next task, Tracy realizes Loki is sitting there-has been sitting there all along.
Sora purses her lips at the cat interrupting their conversation.
"Prreased to meet me." the cat bobs its head to each of them in turn, though it's cleaning its face and forepaw as it does, so it's hard to be certain that the cat is acknowledging them.
Chessa looks up suddenly, as if surprised by the concept that she was in the way. She looks to either side, and then slinks to Sora's side, tail wrapping around her leg.
Sora watches Tracy leave, not paying particularly careful attention, but something nagging at the back of her own mind. It would come to her eventually.
Chessa looks to where Sora had looked, tail swishing against her leg, "Someone is antisocial..." she adds, to her previous line. "Or maybe something else..?" she continues, beginning to pad out towards her, curiosity getting the better of her, and allowing her gut to guide her towards something interesting. She suddenly pauses mid-stride as she notices an object that hadn't been there before. Nothing so inelegant as the time with the cucumber not-snake... no. But still strange, nonetheless. She turns on her pads, to curl and look back at Sora, who had nervously also moved to the side, to lean against the cold marble wall, out of the way of the others working. Chessa settles in place as if she'd always intended to stop halfway to Tracy.
From outside, Tracy is the first to notice the last of the Erohin assigned to the Purity Committee: Malice capers across the hall in dramatic red leather, contrasting with the natural blue tinge of Erohin skin. Every few steps, they shove forward a hooded figure, bound and hobbled. This figure, even bound as he is, swaggers across the floor in bold strides, coming to a stop after each prodding before continuing his smooth gait.
Across the room, you see someone talking to Raven and Astre.
They smile and purse their lips slightly.
You might die where you stand. They look away again, tucking a curl behind their ear. At this angle, you're watching their profile, and are fascinated by the way the light through the stained glass windows highlights their eyelashes. You can see their collar bone, framed in fur, and trace the muscle of their neck to the corner of their jaw where the skin gathers and the slight blue tint of their Erohin skin is more pronounced.
"-gathered to address the attacks. Isn't that..." Suddenly the person in front of you hitches their shoulders like they're about to cry. What were they even talking about?
From your position near the door, you hear Tracy's Kotodama lecture them. "... Social interactions are an integral part of your therapy." You see a scandalous exchange between Raven and Maturity, but you also see Nyx the Pixie looking the other way.
From her position at the wall, you see Sora fretfully look from face to face. Something they see is bringing up those painful memories again. You know there are a few old friends here, but Sora is acting like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Her eyes keep falling on Temerity as if the sight of them were breaking her heart.
Malice. Yes. Astre says one of their hands reach back, to toy with the bun their hair is tied back in tight enough to hurt their scalp a little. Don't Johanna says quickly, as his fingers alight on the cord that holds it.
H- They're mostly safe to be around. Astre says, correcting himself before Johanna can chastise them. But, If you are on catering, be sure to double check which juice you're pouring. pomegranate and cranberry look very similar.
They turn to the other person, seemingly entranced by the Erohin. They place a hand on their shoulder, the one not occupied by the loud pixie. I'm Astre. you're A purity committee 'member' too? they ask, effortlessly pronouncing the inverted comma.
Realizing that the object was not an object, based on the conversation, but rather a yokai of a kind Chessa had never seen - or at least, recognized that she was seeing, curiosity, and the answer plainly visible in what she overheard, Chessa returns her focus to her charge once more. She leaps - and nothing happens except leaping. There's a small 'prruu' that emanates from the cat as it finishes the movement to go hitch itself to Sora once more. "What is troubling you, little one?" the cat asks, condescendingly, but with a loving tone.
The distrust is plain on Sora's face. "Just a lot of familiar faces and sad memories. I'll rejoin the group in a minute." It's evident they believe this is Chessa's motivation. "It was s%+&ty of Perfection to drag us all together again. I have papers to grade. I don't need another job adjusting high chairs." Chessa knows from Tenshi that Perfection did not assemble the committee.
Chessa's tail whips back and forth, but doesn't lose contact with Sora's leg. "Judging by the bickering, I think the only one here that may have done this is Brilliance, little one. Brilliance would very much enjoy the show. I do not know whether that is true or not, but I do know that Perfection is not responsible." The cat flops on its back, tail staying oddly in the same position as it looks directly up at Sora. "Why do you think high chairs are involved? This is a lot of talent for high chairs."
Cognition starts to flood in earlier than normal. Information he's not supposed to have, and certainly not now of all times. It's not all there, it probably won't be for a bit if the rest stays the same, but it's enough to tell him that something has changed - and he doesn't know what.
He fights down the headache ensuing from this early remembrance, and does his best to gather himself. Something was indeed wrong, this part always stayed pretty much the same since it was basically on autopilot without his memory to change it...but this was a unique opportunity to start learning things and influencing events.
...not too much, mind. He had no defence, yet. No way out. He was still struggling to recall what came next.
A little of the shine has come back to Junpei's eyes as he focuses in on Takara, more aware of the world around him and readier to for what's coming and he takes her hand.
Because really, that was a her, and he'd gotten more than enough practice in future to know how not to just say that aloud. "Good meeting you, Takara. I'm assuming things have been going well for you if Perfection thought to bring you here."
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Therapy? I'm not in therapy!" Tracy retorts curtly. "I'm not one of your 'golden ones', I'm the one you call to get the stain out of the rug!"
"They aren't thinking of me at all, so they certainly aren't going to think me 'rude' for staying out of their way."
Between her ongoing disquiet at the thought of her 'own, personal, Jesus' & her perpetual exasperation at being proven right, yet again, r.e. her place in the universe, Tracy only notices Malice & entourage arrival in the most general of ways, which is to say 'Another Elohim, another 'golden child', someone else to clean up after'...
Raven turns to Astre, his face red. "Um, yes." He pulls slightly away, as if trying to escape from Astre's reach, before realizing his position. His eyes flit to Nyx, searching for help, but the pixie seems to be staring away from him in silence.
"I just run messages, mostly." Raven says, slowly returning to his calm demeanor. "Good communication is a necessity, especially between the Erohin." Parroting what Nyx usually argued about the task seemed hypocritical, but at least it would keep the pixie from badgering him later. "It's a fine role for one such as myself." Raven concludes.
Expecting Nyx to add something, he pauses for more than a few awkward moments. "And what do you do to help the committee?"
“That.” Nyx pipes. “Person.” There’s another long pause. “Is saying mean things about Erohin.” The pixie zips into a hover, then darts toward the door.
The tengu on Azu's shoulder balances on one leg as they take the joss paper joint from their beak. “Pfft, who doesn’t.” Azu tries not to cough through the smoke, which smells like banana flavoring.
A bang across the room makes everyone turn toward the door.
You don’t get a chance to respond before the door is kicked open.
Avis returns to your shoulder. “They brought the man here.”
A bang kills the low roar of the Erohin’s bickering. (They have decided on a color scheme, but were still hammering out just what the color scheme was for.)
When Tracy turns from Loki to stare at a less interesting wall, she comes face to face with Mercy. Their tone is low and forceful like a growl through the lanky black hair hanging over their eyes, but their rictus grin never breaks. “You know it’s antisocial behaviour like that that fosters resentment and hate... leading to assault, battery, murder, rape, torture, war, colonization, and every other sin you filth have wrought on this paradice you were given. You should be grateful that we bother to try with you pigs.” Leaning forward, they twist backwards like water down a drain to bring their boot down on the door, sending it flying open.
Malice enters the room like a cold wind, and pushes an older man in front of the long table. Nyx bounces off the man's chest and spills out onto the committee table. The man is wearing a perfectly acceptable white service uniform, but he has it unbuttoned, and has pulled his shoulder out through the front, letting the sleeve hang from his waist. His hands and feet are bound. Malice tugs away the hood to reveal a rugged, stubbly face with hooded eyes. His silver hair sticks out from the side of his head like a signature. He runs his tongue over his teeth and spits on the floor.
When no one speaks, Malice looks hurt. “Did no one expect the Spanish Inquisition?” they ask, bowing.
A charge of Malice's slips in quietly, but they bring with them a wave of whispers. The Erohin are speaking, but it’s drowned out in quiet questions and terse answers.
The door closes with a snap, leaving Tracy out in the hall.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"DON'T!-" Tracy interjects fiercely before Loki can do more than inhale (assuming Loki actually needs to breathe to speak...)
"say it." She all but drives the air from her lungs & out her nostrils. Her lips tightly clenched, Mercy's invasion, while clearly unsettling, elicited more irritation than fear.
'F**&ing bully. Congratulations, ass. You're only the least genuinely scary thing in the room when one of THEM is also here...
She angrily blinks away the excess moisture welling in her eyes.
"Fine! I'll go back! Just remember I told you so, when the time comes!" Every word is like a stone thrown at the diminutive figure as she grasps the door handle to yank it back open.
As Tracy enters, the room goes quiet, and everyone turns to see how the next surprise guest would upturn the current power struggle, but they find Tracy instead.
I'm an Investigator. And Material Witness, I suppose Astre says sardonically. Like anyone on the Purity Council didn't aready know about them Your... Companion seems rather Agitated they tell the quiet bo- Person before them. Mine doesn't speak much. He says She's really more a mobile panopticon than anything else. Th- He thinks in a bit of pique.
He braces himself to give their report. they dearly hoped the few things they had dredged up wuld placate the Erohin somewhat.
Johanna pulses stolidly in acknowledgement.
The cat watches the procession, unflinching, before starting to talk with Sora once more. Her ear flicks and her eyes dart back over at the open door... but she doesn't seem all that interested in the other woman's return. Her tail whips back and forth, minorly annoyed.
"I understand... and it's in your nature to fix things, little one. And where you can't fix it, own it." The cat presses its face against her leg, before turning after a pair of steps, to drag her tail across the leg once more.
"I do not like this one." the kitten says simply. "What is worthy of worship about 'Malice'?"
Azu responds immediately. "Yes, sempai."
"What do they do to you when they find out you aren't keeping me on the straight and narrow?" It's a nonsequitor, but it sounds like they have been thinking about the question for a while.
A blossom of fire interrupts Nyx, who turns on Suzu, a cute maid following the newcomer, Ao. "Don't get me started with you, Shanhaz. You shouldn't still be taking that form. You can take that banshee slash succubus line and stuff it. That's not your natural form."
Suzu smiles innocently, "I wouldn't want to burn anyone."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nyx had flown off somewhere, but Raven scarcely noticed. His gaze dances between Maturity and Malice, so different in both dream and reality for him. It was akin to a tear in his mind, grasping so hard at what it could before it fell to pieces.
Feeling - but not quite hearing - the conversation next to him, Raven opened his mouth to speak, only to find it unable to emit even a whisper. Touching his palm to his throat, he looks to the ground at his side, wishing to see nothing else. But while his eyes cannot see it, his mind perceives it nonetheless.
Junpei waves it off, and though he hides it well, he'd rather not she touch him. Well...they, in their case. Someone had definitely adapted very well to life with the Erohin. "I can't guarantee that I'm afraid. It would be nice, but I've got to be where I'm needed in the end, and it's far beyond the likes of me to know what the future holds. He smiles amicably. "I'll be sure to stop by if I have the chance, though."
He looks curiously at Avis as he shows up, and then to the events unfolding as Malice enters with an utter lack of surprise. "I still don't know how you know these things sometimes, Avis."
He sighs as Tracy makes her reappearance, looking away in the way he ought to at the moment. "They're definitely doing themselves no favours at the moment. The last thing they need to do right now is call more attention to themselves." He shakes his head. Things were rough for Tracy, and only about to get rougher. He just needed her to stand strong til she could shine. "If you don't mind too terribly, there was someone I meant to talk to before duty called. It would be rude to leave them waiting."
He gives a polite nod to Tamara, and makes to approach Sora.
Noticing her talking with her Yokai, he figures it would be good to give her a heads up. "Sora! Sorry to leave you there. How are you doing?" He smiles wide and openly, a newfound twinkling in his eyes. Hopefully, it'd help her be at ease.
Lying would be easy, and only all too natural for the little cat. A small shove here, a tender swish there, and the young woman would be none-the-wiser. But that wouldn't be answering her question, and that wouldn't be fair to her. It was likely to hurt a little, but better to kiss the knees than not allow her to walk at all.
"Well... we have the best Erohin. So they're generally rather friendly when they realize I haven't been doing my job." Chessa says, smoothly, tail swishing. "And besides, they rarely have reason to find out. There have been... incidents..." she says, tail twitching more quickly. "Yours is a very high profile occupation, a step towards education before re-education becomes necessary. I suppose the worst is when I am made to watch re-educations." she finally shares, attempting to sound aloof.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As the term 'natural' crosses the lips of the diminutive Youkai in an attempt to rebuke the new arrival, Tracy breaks into a coughing jag strong enough to double her over.
Wheezing, she allows herself to drop to her knees before drawing back upright, tears cutting trails down her reddened cheeks.
"THANKS," she coughs again, "I needed that."
Takara giggles. “That’s the abomination they brought in from the site of corruption. It’s been all the talk of Neo Jimazan, at least among the yokai. It’s best if we don’t pay attention to deviants like that any more than our appointed roles require.”
As Junpei excuses themselves, Takara bows with a simple dip of the head.
Sora perks up when Junpei approaches, although it’s clearly a facade snapping down like a taxi cab’s partition. “As well as can be, Junpei.” A smile spreads under eyes that flick between the two interlopers in the peaceful corner they had carefully arranged. It was a warning to each of them that nothing of substance could come of a conversation whilst the other remained in proximity.
It’s especially rough on the nekomata. All things considered, Sora should trust Chessa, but truly the two of them would never be friends. Couldn’t they see how the Erohin’s reign was crushing all of them? Sora had incubated Chessa’s egg herself all those years ago, and in return Chessa had protected her as the world around them changed.
Nyx hovers over the exchange, giving the two their most disapproving glare, but then they glance over at Suzu, snap their fingers in defeat, and flit off back toward Raven.
A hush is called over the crowd as Maturity sits. The whispers die down to a dull roar. It seems some actual business was in order. Temerity stands, holding a page as if they’re reading from it. It’s the place mat with the solved maze on it. “A cursory investigation of the site of corruption was conducted by Astre and their attendant Ophanim, Johanna.” Temerity holds out a hand to Astre, and the crowd of humans and yokai parts instinctively. ”Astre was chosen for their prior experience with the Darkness that plagues us. Astre, please describe to those Erohin assembled the state of the site as you found it after this… heathen was apprehended.”
Chessa watches Sora for a moment, her tail twitching in slow agitation, before she trundles away from the pair and towards the center of excitement, ears flicking at the slightest sounds.
Maybe someday.
Once she reaches the man, she plops herself down and takes several small tiny inhales through her nose, attempting to sate her newfound curiosity. Did he smell like a heathen?
Astre stand straighter. A few things were notable in this incident. Firstly, this was far further into the city that previous incursions. they say, slipping briefly into the terminology of the darkness. And the pseudo-psychic corruption spread further than the previous maximum by... Johanna?
The radius of spread was 6.73 meters farther than the previous largest incident She projected out to the room
Yes. There were, mercifully, only a dozen or so people in the library and it's vicinity when the incident began. I say "Or so" because, due to the nature of the damage to the victim's carcasses, we cannot get an exact count.
Which brings us to the most concerning of the variations Johanna added
Yes, quite. The... Heathen, I believe sh-They were termed, was only lightly armed. He holds up a admittedly large knife, with faint traces of the darkness's telltale purple-red in spider webbing lines on the blade. they place in on the table, for the Erohin who are so inclined to inspect They were neither armed heavily enough, or physically strong enough to inflict the damage we saw... nor would any human, or young Yokai be. our conclusion, from this, is that either a very old yokai, or one of the Righteous... that is, one of the darkened Erohin Astre finishes, bowing low as he does, and unless asked follow up questions, falls back to the background
"Vitality." The rancor in Perfection's voice cuts the tension in the room like a thousand degree knife.
Maturity sighs. "Now, Perf-" but the rest is drowned out as the room dissolves into conversation once again.
"Murr-urder?" Chessa asks, mid-sniff. Her eyes slowly move up the full frame of the figure before her. "The darkness is killing people? Carcasses?" The cat seemed very... unenthused by the whole thing. "Why are we here?" she asks, finally, hoping that someone would have an actual answer.
The man ignores Chessa as they investigate. He smells like musky body odor, burnt dry leaves, and a potent mix of strong alcohol and something like gasoline. If there were a smell of ill faith, at least one of those might qualify.
At their question, Chessa is joined by Avis. "Yeah, the first cases of non-accidental death since the Erohin established their reign." The snake flicks their tongue, then rears back at the aggressive scents. "We need to track down the source of these attacks. The Erohin lead, the humans follow, and we protect the humans. It's a dangerous position, but the alternative is to let the darkness walk all over us. You know what I say to that? No one treads on me."
"The thing is, this isn't the first non-accidental death to occur since the Erohin assumed...
Control?" She shrugs as if not quite agreeing with her own descriptor.
"Every 'incursion' as our esteemed convert calls them has been marked by an accompanying human death. We," she directs her gaze briefly toward both Loki & Perfection in turn, as though confirming they wish her to proceed, "suspect the deaths...
fuel(?) them, it's been in every report Loki & I have filed after each purification." she adds.
Marshaling her own resolve now, Tracy seems to have lost all awareness of any one else present as she gives voice to her own, rather stark recollections. "The first 'incursion' occurred almost nine & a half years ago. They were sporadic, infrequent in the beginning."
"We have almost incontrovertible evidence they were suicides. I am certain the first was my friend Tomoe." By this point, Tracy's face exhibits no expression, as if the memory is sufficiently painful the only way she can steel herself to share it is to disassociate herself from it completely. "I suspect the Darkness was just as surprised initially as we were. However, that soon changed. Certainly no later than two years ago & most likely as early as five years ago the Darkness was able to insinuate at least one & probably as many as five or more active agents of their own. This wasn't a murder. This was a beachhead."
Conquest pounds the table. "What? We're going to take his word for it? They hunted us before. Stewardship is still missing an arm!"
In a second, Perfection is standing on top of the table. "Bias! Bias. I remember you, you little mouse. You're the calligrapher. We took you in because they coerced you. No, this is all their fault." Perfection jabbs a finger at the man.
"She's one to talk about bias." Brilliance licks their lips. "Give me three hours. I'll have him toeing the line just as well as Senshirou. Three days, and he'll still be able to speak."
"I don't like the way that one spoke to us." Maturity gestures toward Tracy.
"Maturity, we have more important things to worry about right now. We're deciding this mortal's fate." Malice shakes their head. "Let's not take any more detours, this heathen transgressed by their own admission. -by their very countenance."
"I agree," Temerity sighs. "Time spent here is time given the Darkness to spread."