2022-12-26 - Some Unexpected History
| Title: Some Unexpected History | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Yumi and Raiko are making preparations to cast a spell to protect Yumi's friend Takahiro from further exploitation by Conflagria. But a line of questioning from Raiko following up on something she heard the night they found the book derails their original plans. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Raiko's Home (Chofu Suburban District) | |
| OOC - IC Date: December 26, 2022 - Friday, February 05, 2016 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Chofu Suburban District +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Chofu was built on a vast natural terrace that reinforces the town against
the slope down to the sea. It has its own town limits, and it is large
enough that you can get anything you need without leaving them. It has
lovely houses and apartments, well-appointed town centers, and beautiful
green fields around it. But the Tama River that flows through and past Chofu
feeds into the main city, and the great splay-legged power lines that follow
its course at a safe distance link town to metropolis. This is and is not
Tokyo.
Just fifteen minutes (and a scant 230 yen) by high-speed rail from Shinjuku
Station, Chofu is one of the largest "bed towns" for central Tokyo. Most of
the people who live here work in the Special Wards, the short commute buying
them vastly cheaper, less cramped lodgings, though some maintain local
businesses. While this makes Chofu a suburb of inner Tokyo, it is certainly
still Tokyo, and the expansive lawns and sprawling development one envisions
when thinking of a suburb are not to be found here. Still, there are no
skyscrapers here, and freestanding houses replace the massive apartment
buildings of Tokyo.
Chofu's river banks host old-fashioned festivals that draw many from
surrounding areas at the proper times of year. In contrast, Chofu is also
home to the headquarters of JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Though Japan is not yet involved in manned space travel, those interested in
Japan's satellite or other space-related technology can find ample materiel
for research or wrongdoing.
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
The mission to retrieve the artifact at the heart of all the trouble with the summoned Sulfuric Ogre... had been a success. Or at the very least, they had located and retrieved the artifact, which was apparently a book. But there were still several issues left to take care of. The immediate link between Takahiro and the book seemed to have been severed, but there was still the possibility of lingering effects, and without knowing exactly what was being done to him to begin with, it was difficult to know how to stop or prevent it.
Luckily, Yumi had been hard at work studying the book and had found a protection spell, but they needed a place they could cast it safely without being distrubed... and so Raiko had offered her house, and specifically, her grandfather's warded study. It should be secure enough, now that she had fixed the wards.
Raiko greeted Yumi at the front door. She'd skipped club (again; this was her usual state of affairs these days) to come here and get a few things ready. "Hi, Yumi-chan. Hi, Tama. We're just about ready upstairs. Can I get either of you something to drink before we start? Or... Um..." Her eyes roll up and to the side as she searches her memory. "I might have some cookies if you want a snack, but... I kind of forgot to go to the store on my way over, sorry. And what I have to drink is just water."
She remembered to turn the thermostat up, at least, so the house is decently warm, for the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi Ohzora has been studying hard! ...The book, that is. The book that they recovered from Takahiro's room, the one that was responsible for the summonings. There's still a lot to be done...
But that's today! In theory, anyway. Yumi steps inside at Raiko's invitation, and smiles at Raiko. She came here once she finished up at school, which means Raiko had plenty of time to set up. "Hi," she says, and Tama inclines her head, stepping inside ahead of Yumi. "Oh, no thanks," Yumi answers, and laughs a little. "I don't mind. If I need sugar I've got some bars on me."
The house is warm, though! Yumi appreciates that. ...As does Tama.
"Thanks for letting us use your house. I think it's a much better idea than the dorms..." Hmm.
"So, I've been reading. It turns out... this book belonged to a Hungry Queen a long time ago."
A, not the. She has noticed that.
"But, I was able to find a few things. Including a spell that might help." 📱 Mai Tokiha (Mai) pages Yumi Ohzora and Raiko Takashima: Are ye meeting in sun or rain, friendly witches? 📱 Yumi Ohzora (Yumi) pages Mai Tokiha and Raiko Takashima: Rain :E 📱 You paged Mai Tokiha and Yumi Ohzora with 'Beats me. I didn't include the weather in my scene set.'
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Raiko appreciates the house being warm, too. even if Grandpa isn't here, it still makes the house feel a little bit more like home...
Raiko nods as Yumi says she has some bars. "Okay. Sorry, there's not really a lot of food here, because..." she lets that thought trail off. It's nt hard to figure out why. "... Anyway." She stands aside to admit both Tama and Yumi, then closes the door behind them. She's still in her uniform, so she must have come here right after class let out without stopping at her dorm.
She nods, "Of course! Like I said before, I think Grandpa would want me to share what I could for the cause, and the wards wouldn't even be fixed if it hadn't been for everyone helping me, so... yeah."
Raiko tilts her head a little. "'A' Hungry Queen? So... there's been more than one?" She contemplates that for a moment. "Is it a title that gets passed down, like the title of Inheritor?"
"But that's good! Did you figure out what the book was doing to your friend to begin with?" She leads the way upstairs as they chat.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Bars! She always keeps little snacks and stuff on hand for that purpose, and just because snacking is nice to do. It is not hard to figure out why that thought trails off, though, and Yumi doesn't force her to stick with it. Instead she says, "It's fine!" And lets it move on.
Yumi nods about sharing. "Cool. Well, it's a big help. We'd get noticed at the school for sure..."
"Bingo!" Yumi answers. "It's a title that gets passed down. The spellbook isn't just a spellbook--it's kind of... also she recorded some stuff about herself?" Yumi is still reading through, of course. Though it's locked at the moment, as she steps through. "She mentions that she inherited it from her mother."
Then a nod. "Yeah. So, a lot of it was just side-effects of using the book; the actual problem was that Conflagria linked him to the book. Then, he was using it in his sleep. It's... a pretty nasty spell, actually. But the reversal would protect him against control like that for a good while. Basically, the book is powerful... and without his own magic to resist it, it was drawing on his energy. That's why he was acting so weird and distant." 📱 Mai Tokiha (Mai) pages Yumi Ohzora and Raiko Takashima: Sure! Mai Tokiha walks over from Infinity Institute.
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Raiko nods about being noticed. "Especially if we want to use the staves to cast the spell."
She frowns a little as Raiko describes the book. "So... it's like a journal? Or a diary, of sorts? That's... quite a thing to pass down to your daughter."
"He was using the book in his sleep? No wonder he said he had dreams about Conflagria." Though the mention of the sorceress gets a frown from her. "Then why did you touching it break the spell? Was it just the introduction of a strong magical signature that disrupted the link? He couldn't fight back but... you disrupted it for him, instead?"
Raiko steps inside the office. It's mostly as it was before, when it was cleaned up--though she's made a few trips since then to make preliminary efforts to sort and organize the personal effects within. More importantly, however, she's cleared out the magic circle in the center of the room and prepared a small selection of items on the desk. Candles, plus a few other odds and ends Yumi might have asked for.
"Speaking of Conflagria..." Raiko looks to Yumi. She really doesn't want to be asking this question, but at the same time... it's too important to ignore. "Why was she taunting Minagi-san about the book?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Mm-hm."
"Yeah," Yumi answers about it. "I haven't been able to read the whole thing yet, but it's... Well. It's a perspective I never really expected to get. Like, why would someone choose all this...?" She gestures, and probably doesn't mean magic in general.
"I..." Tama chimes in after Yumi trails off, "Something like that. Yumi's connection to the Staff of Lost Ivy could well have been enough to disrupt the dark magic."
The gray-haired girl nods at that, and steps in after Raiko, looking around and then reaching into her bag for the big, heavy book. It's still locked, since they're transporting it and all. And the question...
"Hm?" Yumi asks. "Probably to make her feel bad."
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
"I'm not sure I'd trust anything in a book written by the Hungry Queen, no matter which one of them wrote it," mutters Raiko, a bit darkly. Still, she nods to Tama, though... something tells her Tama doesn't seem entirely convinced of that explanation, either. "I guess that could be it. Still, Yumi-chan, please don't just touch something like that without checking it next time. I don't know what I'd do if..."
And at that she looks away and turns towards the desk, making space for the book. She keeps a wary eye on it as its brought out. It's locked, certainly, but there's still much they don't understand about it.
But the answer to her question gets her to look at Yumi again. "... To make her feel bad? How does that help her plan?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"I'm definitely not going to take it without a few grains of salt," Yumi answers the mutter. But she smiles at that. "It's OK," she says. "Next time if I can I'll summon the Staff first," she allows. But she was really worried at the time; she didn't feel there was much time to hold back and be cautious.
Tama hops onto a desk to get a vantage point to watch them.
"I'm not sure it does," Yumi says. "It's..."
She considers. "Well, Dark Fall types tend to just be jerks," she says with a shrug. "They do things to make people feel bad because they want to."
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Looks a little relieved as Yumi... well, sort of promises to be more careful next time, or at least says she'll try. She can live with that, for the moment. "Okay. Thanks."
There is space enough for Tama to watch from. And for Shiori, who comes strolling into the room just then. "Ah, you've both arrived. I've just been making sure the rest of the grounds are secure for the casting."
Raiko frowns a bit. "Well, I guess I can't fault you there..." She still doesn't sound entirely convinced, however.
But, the spellbook is out, and they have more important business to attend to. "So, what else do we need to do to prepare for the spell?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Sort of!! It's kind of like being careful.
Tama nods to Shiori, acknowledging her hard work in silence. There is a bit to say. But Yumi thinks about what she's talking about for a moment and pauses, as she realizes a piece of the puzzle that Raiko almost certainly doesn't have.
"...Hold that thought," Yumi says. "I'll need to set up the ritual circle. But before I do that..."
"So, If you want to know why she'd taunt Mikoto in particular, it's because they knew each other. I can tell you about it, but you have to promise to keep it secret if I do. OK?"
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Shiori takes the nod gratefully, taking up her post. She's not holding onto Wise Levin at the moment--Raiko's staff is, instead, on its place on the wall, as it was before Raiko took it up.
When Yumi is ready to set up the ritual circle, Raiko has all of the tools and implements she might want laid out for the task. At least, all of the standard ones.
Raiko had turned to looking over the preparations she'd made, then blinks and looks over to Yumi as she changes the subject. "... They knew each other?" She straightens up and turns to face the elder witch. "... I can keep a secret. Promise."
Shiori, for her part, looks mildly concerned for Raiko, exchanging a brief look with Tama.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi pulls the Staff of Lost Ivy as well, just as preparation, and sets it likewise by the wall, to rest it and keep it in easy hands. Yumi is ready to set up--but doesn't, just yet. She will need to be able to work with Raiko well to do it, so having a point of confusion ahead in the way...
"OK, good."
Tama looks back to Shiori, and shakes her head.
"Mikoto was trapped working for her brother for a long time. She was working with a lot of the generals we meet; she knew Westar, for instance, who you met the other day, and she had met Conflagria."
"We were able to save her from the darkness, but it was pretty hard. And now she works with us, instead."
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Raiko is a witch! She's used to keeping secrets.
What Yumi tells her though, is... not what she was expecting. "... She used to work for Dark Fall," she says in a stunned whisper. Yumi didn't say it outright, but she can puzzle that out well enough. She looks down, her face clouded as she mulls that over. She opens her mouth a few times to speak, but nothing comes out.
It's not that she doesn't want to believe in redemption, but... it's hard when her grandfather is still missing.
After a long time, she seems to make up her mind about something and looks up to Yumi. "... Do you trust her? I mean, really trust her?" She looks a bit pained to be so suspicious of Yumi's friend, but... hopefully Yumi will understand.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Yes," Yumi answers. It's not hard to figure out; and it's important to know. ...All the same, Yumi is hesitant to explain it. But it could get used against them if she doesn't. So...
"I do," Yumi answers, without hesitation. "I do. And you can, too. ...You..."
She sees that pained look, and shakes her head. "...It's.. important, to trust in people when you get them back. To trust that people can be saved from the darkness. If we can't, if this is a world where there's no hope for people who are trapped in those situations..."
"...That's not a world I can accept, or protect."
"She was raised in it her whole life. But she's with us, now."
Tama watches, in silence.
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Raiko takes a deep breath as Yumi says she trusts Mikoto, and nods in reponse to that.
And she continues to listen as Yumi explains further, about the importance of trusting people and trusting that they can be saved. It does seem to ease the pain on her face, though not completely. After a few moments more of long consideration, she looks up to Yumi again.
"I... I'll trust you Yumi-chan. And if you trust her then... that's enough for me." She glances away, and still looks a bit guilty. "It's not that I don't want to trust her I just... Dark Fall--The Hungry Queen--is the reason my grandpa is missing, and it's... hard to separate my feelings about them." She has to place that specific name in there, to remind herself where she should direct those feelings.
Some of those feelings have been burning quite brightly the two times so far she's faced an ogre.
"... but you're right. I don't want it to be a world like that either. I just need some time." She looks up to Yumi again, apologetically. "Sorry."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"...Mm." Did she do the right thing, telling her about it? She hasn't revealed all the details; maybe she's said too much as it stands. Regardless, she's said it now, so, that's that. Yumi thinks about it from Raiko's perspective, but...
"Okay," Yumi says. "I know it's hard," she says. "...There's a lot of things in the world that are... more complicated, than they seem at first. That you get to know in this life. But Mikoto-chan is one of my very best friends. I trust her with my life, and more."
"...So take the time you need, OK? I know it's not as simple as taking my word for it. But... try not to hold it against her."
"She's been hurt by them, too."
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
It was certainly better for Raiko to hear it from Yumi rather than to find out some other way. For instance, if Conflagria had decided to taunt her with that information at some woefully inopportune time.
Maybe there's no perfect way to break this news. But Raiko does seem receptive to what Yumi has to say, at least. "I'll try," she says, of not holding it against Mikoto.
Though that last bit, about Dark Fall hurting Mikoto too... that seems to make her contemplative again. "Hmmm..."
Maybe that's the angle she needed.
Shiori lets out a very shallow sigh of relief that Raiko seems to be taking the news at least moderately well.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi thought of that possibility too--Conflagria's like that, and definitely would if she saw the opportunity. But today, here and now...
"Thanks," she says. Trying is what counts, at least for now. Besides, it can't happen over night. But on the other hand...
"I think maybe we should just discuss setup for the spell instead of actually trying it today, though. For something like this we have to really be in sync... and you've got something to think about that might distract you, and so do I."
"I was at least able to identify that he's not actively in danger anymore; this is more.. about shielding him if she decides to try to use him again."
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Raiko looks up to Yumi and just nods when she says they should stick to setup for today. "I... hmm. I trust you, still, but... I guess you're right. I shouldn't have any doubts when doing something this important." She looks like she's about to ask something as Yumi says she also has something to be distracted by, but decides against it.
She's got more than enough on her mind at the moment as it is.
"That's good, at least." That he's not actively in danger.
Raiko pulls out a notebook and a pencil out of thin air, flipping it to a blank page so she can start making notes. "It's... been a while since I cast a working in conjunction with someone," she admits. Well, they had that one spell in the fight with the Sulfuric Ogre, but that's not quite the same.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Right."
Yumi doesn't volunteer the information; she knows Raiko has a lot on her mind... and sometimes she wants to think of things herself, too. For now, though--
"Yes. I was sure about that. Since... Well, obviously." She cares! He's her friend!
"i don't do it that often, either. with the Staff my workings are different, and... Well, without it, I'm not very good at the kind of things people usually want to do."
She smiles though. "That's part of why it'll be nice to work together. Right?"
<Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
"Well, you're not the only one with a Staff anymore, so anytime you need me, I'll be here." She may be hesitatnt on trusting Mikoto, at least for the moment, but here's no doubt in her voice about being there for Yumi. Not when it comes to matters of Inheritor business.
She blinks a little as Yumi confesses to not being good at the same things other people are. "Really?" Then she remembers. Curses. "Oh, yeah... I mean... I can kinda relate... Nobody's been interested in what I've been working on for the last few years, either..."
Raiko smiles back. "Right!"
