2024-10-06 - The Hows and Whys of Sirens
| Title: The Hows and Whys of Sirens | |
|---|---|
| Summary: D'Argent is atop the Rainbow Bridge, ruminating or her next moves. Endo spots her and tries to thank her for helping save his mother, but then asks why d'Argent does what she does. An explanation of the competition d'Argent and Diamant are locked in is provided. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Rainbow Bridge (Yamanote High City) | |
| OOC - IC Date: 10/6/2024 - Tuesday, July 12, 2016 | |
.***************************** Yamanote High City *****************************.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Rainbow Bridge +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Despite its name, the Rainbow Bridge spends most of its time bone-white,
like an angel's harp carved of driftwood in the dark water of the bay.
Periodically it crosses beneath an island every bit as man-made and
geometrical as the bridge itself, planting pillars to claim it and then
traversing water again. It's visible from a wide variety of angles from the
coastline, forming a hypoteneuse that crosses the bay via Odaiba and, with
the aid of less iconic bridges, permits quick travel from Yamanote to
Shitamachi.
Foot traffic is possible across the bridge, and many visitors dare the long
walk to get a good view of the city on one side, and the sea on the other.
Walking atop a bridge is a poor way to see the bridge itself, of course, but
that is what the Yurikamome elevated train line is for. Slung beneath the
bridge for much of its journey, the fully automated, driverless train gives
a great view of the Rainbow Bridge on its way to Odaiba.
For a few hours every night, this expensive landmark truly lives up to its
name, glowing with different hues depending on the season or holiday.
Rarely, a combination of floodlights makes a genuine rainbow of the bridge,
with deep reds at its foot and violet at its peak. Small, colorfully lit
tugboats and civilian craft float beneath the gleaming bridge, buoyant on
the liquid dream of a starry sky.
COMBAT: Ginka Shimizu transforms into La Sirene d'Argent!
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
It's a cold, moonless, night in Tokyo. The skies are clear, revealing an ocean of glittering stars up above, which are dimly reflected in the ocean waters below. Frigid, biting ocean breezes sweep by, encouraging would-be travelers on foot or bike to hurry along to their chosen destinations.
But the Rainbow Bridge is a famous and well-traveled sight, and for good reason. From the bridge one can see both the city and the sea, and from afar, the rainbow lights of the bridge create their own spectacle.
The view is even better from the top of the bridge. Not that most people can scale it.
But tonight there is one figure high atop the bridge, standing prim and tall as she surveys the city. Standing about 5'7", she is wearing a strapless black dress, of gothic design with several layers of lace under the skirt, a black leather bolero jacket with a high collar, left open, black gloves, and thigh-high boots. Probably a magical girl, all told.
The fact that she has long, wavy silver hair and silver eyes, though, definitely cinches it.
Her weapon isn't out at the moment, her arms instead crossed in front of her. She seems to be scrutinizing the city for something, wearing the barest of frowns, but currently she isn't doing anything. Her long hair drifts lazily in the breeze.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
There are always boats gliding along the dark waters underneath the Rainbow Bridge, creeping under the kaleidoscope of colors that run along the long bridge above. They're passing to port or out to the bay, little points of light tracing lines along the glassy surface of the water.
Endo Naoki is taking a ride on one of the vessels, a cruising ship doing a run around the bay. While the passengers are tucked inside the warm interior, the magical boy is admiring the lights of Tokyo from the roof. He's transformed, cape, armor, and big sword contrasting with plastic bag and bento on his lap.
A bento which is mostly empty, and stowed back in the bag as the boat creeps along under the bridge. It's Endo's stop, and he hovers up along the side of the steel column that connects the body of the structure to its base under the water below. He crests the top of the arch, aware of Argent's presence until feet touch the pinnacle of the bridge.
He is, briefly, surprised to see someone else there. It's not entirely uncommon to spot other magical girls hanging out in high places, though.
It is uncommon to spot this one.
"Oh." Says Endo. "It's you."
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
It is uncommon to see d'Argent out and about. At least, when she isn't bearing down on a Cardiax or committing some deed to generate a massive amount of sorrow to harvest. But those are not the only ways she contents herself to gather sorrow, either, and there are plenty of smaller-scale deeds that are as-yet undiscovered.
But those deeds may matters to discuss at a later date.
For tonight she simply seems to be taking in the sight. Or possibly sulking, or thinking or scheming. It's a bit hard to tell, from her expression. (She is only a recent transfer to Tokyo; she had to get around to seeing the sights eventually.)
But she doesn't make any motion as Endo draws near. She doesn't even flinch or react as he speaks.
"Yes, it's me," she replies, tersely. She turns her head just enough so she can look at Endo from the corner of her eye. "Do you need something?"
Translation: Go away.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Unfortunately for d'Argent, Endo is not so easily deterred. He'd been pretty busy the time they fought Cardiax; there hasn't been much time to talk in the aftermath. Not that Argent might have wanted to, but he hadn't got a chance to speak to Nori either.
"Ahh, maybe?" Endo scratches at the back of his head, making a little scoot over to the side to put himself further into the girl's field of vision.
"We fought the monster in the izakaya." He offers, as if not sure she'd remember. "With Diamant. You helped--ah, well, I guess I should thank you? For helping with the monster." He gives a short nod of his head. "I'm Endo."
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
d'Argent definitely hadn't wanted to. She hadn't even gotten to deal the finishing blow on the Cardiax: those two little grade school kids had done that, while she herself had to be... Ugh. Saved by Diamant.
How would she ever live that down?
So yes, she'd gotten up and left before her ego could suffer any more indignity.
Endo makes himself easier to see, but Argent just turns her head back to the cityscape.
The monster in the izakaya. "The Cardiax. You should use its proper name." With Diamant. Argent huffs softly. Don't remind me. "I didn't do it for the thanks. I was only there for the Cardiax, and the rest of you got in my way with all of your hesitating." She unfolds an arm to hold up her hand to look at her nails, despite the fact that she's wearing a glove. "Honestly, it's like Diamant hasn't taught you anything about them."
There is a long pause as she folds her arms again. Eventually she sighs in exasperation, like she doesn't want to be asking the next question. "Is she okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Weeell..." Endo says to the allegation that Diamant hasn't told him about the Cardiax. He laughs nervously. Nori hasn't been derelict in her duty of course, but Endo also isn't the most attentive student.
He has a lot of kinds of monsters to keep track of, after all. And It's not like the solution isn't just to hit all of them anyway.
"They possess people and eat their sadness, right?"
He doesn't add anything about being in the way or hesitating. It's sort of true he wasn't the most clear headed at the moment, given the situation.
He does smile warmly when the girl asks about his mother. "She's okay." He affirms. "I was pretty worried, but everything seems normal now. So...yeah, thank you."
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Endo will not convince Argent that Diamant isn't derelict in her duties. She's kind of already made up her mind, unfortunately. Endo's description, however, does earn a movement of Argent's head that is probably a roll of her eyes.
"Mon dieu. Yes, I suppose that should suffice. Though we said as much the other day." She glances back to Endo. "But do remember that we deal in Sorrow. Not Grief, or Misery, or any other such thing. Though I do not suppose someone who is not a Siren can appreciate such fine nuances."
Endo's mother is okay. Argent brushes a lock of hair from her face. "As I knew she would be." She doesn't often stick around to see the aftermath of one of these battles or the people afflicted by them. She's seen far, far too many for that.
And another thank you. "Hmph. Again, I do not need your thanks. It was hardly my finest work anyway, with the rest of you getting in my way."
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Well...they do sound the same to me." Endo admits, a blatantly unashamed laugh escaping his lips."What's the difference? Aren't they different words for the same thing? Or, symptoms of the others?"
Endo considers. He decides, after a second of thought, "Well, even if you don't need it, you can have it anyway."
"But. I do want to know," He begins, hesitating as he attempts to figure out how we wants to phrase the question. There's actually a lot he wants to ask, but he settles on: "Why...don't you like Diamant?"
There's a lot more nuance to what he wants to ask, but that's what he goes with.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
They all sound the same to Endo. Argent scoffs. "I suppose you would think so, wouldn't you?" At this she finally turns to face Endo. She uncrosses her arms, resting one on a hip while using the other to gesture. "To be attuned to the emotions of others is to be aware of... of the nuances of a person's existence. Would you equate the feeling of getting a bad grade on a test because it means you have broken your straight-A streak and now that record you have worked so hard to maintain is irrevocably tarnished, to the feeling of getting a bad grade on a test when it is simply one more in a string of bad grades and you have studied for months to finally master the material and yet, like the dew at sunrise, it still eludes your grasp? They are subtle and distinct things, and it is not my fault the language is so crude as to be incapable of expressing the differences."
"I was only there for the Cardiax." And even that was denied her.
There is the smallest upturn of a lip, a smirk as Endo asks that question, and she lets her hand drop. "Must I like her, because we are, in her words, 'cousins'? Do you know what it is every Siren strives for? Or has Diamant not even told you that much?"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Mmm." Endo says. "But if you failed the test, isn't the result the same anyway?" The nuances seems to be lost on him.
He leaves the matter of the Cardiax be, instead focusing on the relationship between the two Sirens.
"Well, probably?" Endo suggests. "Her other cousin likes her, but he's an otter. I don't know how that works, actually. But Sirens gather sorrow, right?"
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Despite her best efforts to be very clear... Endo does not get it. Argent sighs in exasperation. "Je ne le crois pas. No," she snaps. "The result is not the same. The reasons for one's sorrow come from different places. To call them the same would be like... like calling your sword a knife. They may both have a handle, and an edge, but you could hardly mistake one for the other."
Argent pinches the bridge of her nose. "We are 'cousins' because we are descended from the Mother of Sorrows. However, she she counts many types of creatures among her descendants. Including otters." And a certain sea mink, but that is neither here nor there.
"Yes, and do you know why we gather Sorrow?"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo nods. This seems to resonate better, at least. "I see." He says. "But a sword is kind of like a big knife."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense." He doesn't sound terribly sure, but he's willing to take Argent's word for it.
"...No, not really." Endo decides, when asked about why Sirens gather sorrow. He waits attentively for the girl perched at the edge of the bridge to reveal her reason.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Frustration increases.
"They may be alike, in a very crude sense, but to simply equate the two is to lose... the nuance. Your sword, a simple dagger--" She holds out her hand to the side, and in a flash of white light her own rapier appears in it. "--and even my rapier all have their own intricacies. The fine details that of style and craftsmanship that make them unique. Even two knives forged by the same hand would contain their own small imperfections, would each be unique in some fashion, no matter how small."
She puts the rapier away again. "Must I explain everything... very well." Argent crosses her arms again. "The Mother of Sorrows resides over the Sea of Tears, a realm where all of the tears shed in this world flow, to fill a vast and wide ocean. Every so often the Mother of Sorrows has occasion to select a Queen to rule over this land. Thus, she bids the Sirens, her descendants, to seek out and gather the sorrows of the world, so that she may choose from among them who is to be the next Queen."
There is so much more she could say about the Sea of Tears, how the seas constantly storm, how she has a cozy dwelling that she longs for every time she is apart from it, with a warm fireplace that makes it oh so delightful to curl up with a book...
But none of that she will say in this moment.
"And in case that wasn't clear, let me spell it out for you. All Sirens are competing to be the next Queen. That means your precious Diamant is my competitor." And here her barest of smirks turns into a true smirk, her expression smug. "And as I have said before, I always get what I want."
"Does that answer your question?"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"I guess that's true." Endo relents. His eyes trace the blade that the girl demonstrates, then move back to her face or the side of it, as the case may be.
The topic of the Sirens purpose draws a bit more interest. "Ah." He says. "Hmm." He mulls this over for a minute to thoughtful silence.
"Then, he has a new question: "Why do you want to be queen?"
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Argent watches Endo carefully as he asks that question.
That is an excellent question. She chews on that for a moment, her wavy hair drifting lazily behind her, but otherwise motionless. There are many reasons, but...
None of them are owed to Endo.
"Non. Je ne pense pas. You'll have to work harder if you want that answer from me."
She turns away from Endo, raising a hand lazily in farewell. "Try not to hesitate the next time you encounter a Cardiax." She glances over her shoulder. "Not if you want your precious Diamant to stand a chance at becoming Queen. Bonn soiree, Endo."
She leaps off of the bridge and vanishes in a flash of silvery moonlight.
