thebastion | Day 77 :: Event

[This group must go deeper into the city, to one of the residential areas. Fortunately Nathaniel made a clear map of where to go, based on the address from the wallet that Marie found.

For the most part, it will be a quiet trip. Monsters do not seem to go to this part of the city in droves like they do in other areas. However, there are a lot more of those statues around.]

[ Seimei picks his way carefully across the ground, lifting his sleeves so as not to get caught or pausing to inspect a statue, trying to discern if there is any hope of recovering those sad, frozen forms. Always he keeps his sense tuned to life. If Marie - or anyone else, for that matter - is out here, they will surely find them. He only hopes they are so fortunate. Any lost life would be a terrible blow to the already fragile psyches of so many. ]

Ought I summon a shikigami? I can create a bird to fly up and report to us what it sees. That may help us narrow things down a bit. My only concern is drawing too much attention from less savory beasts.

[Stein hums in thought as he strides along with his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, dodging curious statues in his path. Discretion is not a consideration for him, but he wonders briefly if a bird is more effective than his Soul Perception abilities in this place. Especially given that the man next to him was apparently some sort of witch - and that had taken him by surprise. Perhaps the Madness had made him rusty.

He steps around another frozen figure and regards the man with scrutinizing eyes.]

Why use your magic to help us?

well, that seems a rather odd question.

[ Seimei responds, tapping his closed tessen against his lips before tucking it into one of his sleeves and retrieving a bit of plant. It was a short length of stem with two leaves attached that he had grabbed on the way out of the Bastion. Holding it up in an open palm, he whispered softly, then blew a gentle breath over the surface of the leaves.

The tiny gust passing pursed lips lifts the bit of petiole into the air, where it rapidly turns from little more than debris into a large green parrot with black eyes. The bird squawks at Seimei before taking off into the sky in search of clues, leaving the two men to talk and walk. ]

My abilities serve no purpose if I am not using them in assistance to others. Besides that, whatever my motivations, one cannot argue that it serves us all to care for and protect those survivors of the Bastion. I may not have known the woman personally, but there are too few people here to lose them and not at least make an attempt to seek them out.

[ The onmyoji pauses, tilting his head to regard Stein with scrutiny of his own. After a moment, the onmyoji sighs and folds his hands into his sleeves, pausing in his stride. ]

Or perhaps you are not speaking in reference to my occupation, so much as my blood? Do you know what I am?

[Stein could think of the word, alright; definitely knew the response both echoing in his mind and sitting unspoken on his tongue. Others in this situation might have simply said that if this stranger chose to aid rather than hinder, there was no need to question anything further. But, as a man of science, Stein just could not let such things go unanswered. Especially if this man was going to offer said information up freely.

He pauses and turns to face the man, tilting his head at him just a bit.]

I'm afraid I don't.

[ He wasn't really expecting that answer. Stein seemed to have some preconceived notion, some personaly prejudice linger there. Blinking several times, Seimei sniffs faintly, withdraws his tessen once more and snaps it open to fan himself and conceal his sly smile. He knows it sometimes unsettles people, and the accessory has long helped him through social interactions he may otherwise have fumbled merely by being himself. ]

Well then. What do you think I am? If you are incorrect, I promise to tell you the truth. and while you have no guarantee that my word is my bond, I suppose you'll just have to rely on gut instinct. So. What do you believe me to be, teacher of children?

[Granted, Stein has seen some strange things in his time, but no good ever came from someone with abilities matching those of this stranger. If he was going to be coy, Stein would just have to say it, then. Have to? Oh no, he'll take pleasure in it.]

A witch.

[Still within his lab coat pocket, the scientist's right hand flexes and tingles in anticipation. Most don't take kindly to being outed as a witch, after all; and this man, well-meaning or not, could possibly be no exception to that rule.]

You....You think I'm a woman?

[ Utterly flabbergasted, Seimei stares blankly at Stein before belting out a loud laugh in a single gust. Coughing and ducking his head apologetically, the onmyoji shakes his head and waves a hand. ]

No no, my friend, I am far from a witch! I suppose I can understand the mistake. No, I am an onmyoji. We are court sanctioned magicians, astrologers, seers. We are expected to serve the Emperor and royal family. We predict the weather, map out the best places to build homes, divine the gender of unborn children. Largely, we are very benevolent people.

Does that answer you question, sir?

[ The onmyoji smiles behind his fan once more, eyes turned up into vulpine slits. Unless Stein asked specifically about his birth, he wasn't required to admit anything. He wouldn't refuse, of course, but he was enjoying the verbal dance, small as it was. ]

[Onmyoji... It sounded vaguely familiar, as though he'd heard it somewhere before, distantly in his past. Stein looks away, twisting his screw in thought as he often did. Something about the familiar clicking sound almost seemed to make him think faster, somehow or another.

After a few good turns, it hits him: He had heard it before. More precisely, he'd read about the onmyoji in a book he found in the Shibusen library.

But that, however, had been a history book...

He turns back to the man, still perplexed - if not more so than moments prior.]

...That can't be right. The onmyoji are from ancient times; the last of them died out centuries ago.

Did they now? [ He asks with a sly smile and cocked eyebrow. Snapping his tessen closed, Seimei bows slowly, then rises and gestures for Stein to continue along in the search. ]

Abe no Seimei, at your service. And you are not the first to be perplexed by my presence.

Evidently whatever the calamity was that thrust us all into this strange terrain has affected all worlds, and all periods of time. People, like yours truly, are washing up on the metaphorical shores of the Skyway every day. There is no telling how many people from how many times and worlds will eventually migrate here but it would do you no good to assume anything about those around you.

I can assure you of one thing, sir: whatever you believed in the past is of no use to you here. You will have to make your own distinctions anew. People who might have once been enemies are now your only companions, and those you cared about might not surface.

These statues we are passing are those that did not survive. This place is a twisted mockery of life, and we do with it what we can and survive as we must. All of us. I imagine even witches would be of enormous use here, though there are as of yet none, to my knowledge.

[It was a hard sell for Stein. Not just the onmyoji somehow miraculously talking to him, but all of it - the Bastion, the calamity, familiar faces somehow inexplicably different...

As strange as it all sounded, the explanation Seimei offered did seem to align with the facts of the present situation; the only thing left now was to accept it. Like it or not, this was their reality: An unbelievable world filled with unbelievable circumstances. If only swallowing that bit down was the hardest part...

He eyes a nearby statue - or as Seimei put it, the final reminder of another living person now frozen in time; lost, and likely never to return. The figure stares unblinkingly back at Stein as he reaches into the breast pocket of his coat, finds a cigarette, and lights up. He doesn't want to think about those he may never see again...but if Marie is out there, they will find her. He'll make damn sure of that.

Stein exhales a smoky breath toward the sky, noting that the bird Seimei had created was nowhere in sight.]

[ He watches the man thoughtfully, cocking a brow as Stein looks at a statue, then begins smoking. Seimei himself has never seen a cigarette, but he understands the concept of pipes - granted they usually contained opiates.

He says nothing in response to the silence, allowing Stein to think things out for himself. It is, he finds, considerably easier for adults to accept the changes. Perhaps because as an adult, one has already experienced loss and adaptation. Younger people could as well, but their emotions were usually so much more volatile.

He finds the quiet acceptance to be something of a relief, and allows the silence to stretch on companionably, without tension. None from himself, at any rate.

The bird indeed is gone, but being a creature of significant personal intellect, he has no reason to concern himself with its actions. it will return if it finds anything. Meanwhile himself and others can search low. ]

[It doesn't take much searching to find the building in question. There is a long line of houses attached to each other, making the best use out of the limited amount of space within the walls of the city. The address they need to go to is the third down in this long row of houses.

Conveniently, the door is unlocked, and it leads into a narrow two-story house. Everything within the house is untouched, though dusty from nearly 80 days of neglect. The room right by the door is the living room, and a hallway leads deeper into the house. There is also a staircase right by the entrance, leading up to the second floor.

Which way do you go?]

[Another house. Crona had been quiet, following along behind the Professor. But here is another house, like the farm from before. Where to go now?]

I-is there anyone here?

[The Professor should know that.]

[Stein takes a long drag of his cigarette, burning it down to the filter. As he's exhaling smoke into the air just outside the front of the house, he's also silently searching through it with his wavelength. Beyond himself and his allies, he can't sense anything nearby.]

No. It's empty.

[Not what he was hoping for, honestly, but that didn't mean it wasn't worth investigating further. He casually flicks the butt of the spent cigarette to the ground and quashes it under a stitched boot.]

Let's go in.

I do not sense anything either. The shikigami has not returned so nothing has been found nearby. He will fly until he finds something or I recall him. He can cover a great deal of ground so...I am afraid we may not be searching in the right place or...

[ He trailed off, eyes drifting to Crona. The child always looked so miserable - adding to hir upset would not help anyone. Nevertheless, Seimei feared they would not be finding Marie. He hoped that at least something turned up that would help the others let go. It was always worse not knowing what had happened. then again, he mused, finding a dead woman would no doubt shatter the child.

He turned his eyes to Stein, expression unreadable, though he hoped the man understood the look for what it was - he did not believe this would end well. ]

[Marie is not here currently, no, but anyone who is able to sense such things will be able to tell that she has been here recently, within the last week. Her presence is particularly strong in one of the rooms upstairs.

Besides that, there are signs here and there that someone has been here recently. a dish moved here, a book dropped there, footsteps in the dust on the stairs, and so forth.

And in a mirror in the front room, in the layers of grime, someone drew a Lord Death skull in one of the corners.]

[To find Marie dead would be damaging, would send Crona back off into that dark place the meister was so used to. But to not find Marie at all? That might just make Crona never stop searching.]

Ah.... Professor? There's a skull there.

[Not a real skull, no. A real skull wouldn't have gotten any comment from Crona.]

[Stein's eyes scan around the room, and sure enough, there is; though not the kind he was hoping for. Dammit. Drawn onto a dingy mirror with what had clearly been a fingertip was a mock-up of Shinigami-sama’s three-pointed skull mask. Stein says nothing in reply, but approaches the mirror to examine it more closely. With an index finger of his own, he writes out a familiar number: 42-42-564. Normally, that sequence of digits drawn on any reflective surface would establish a direct line of contact with the mirror in the Death Room.

Stein is a bit disheartened – though not at all surprised – when this mirror does nothing at all.

He turns on a heel, and nearly stumbles over something underfoot. A book? He stoops and picks it up, swiping off a few layers of light dust on the hard cover. It’s a romance novel. Oh, Marie...]

She’s been here.

[The tone of his voice sounds devoid of all optimism, but as he glances to his allies, his eyes are not. He turns to Seimei.]

Would you check upstairs?

Certainly. I will...leave you two to explore down here.

[ The onmyoji nods, clears his throat and departs, ascending the stairs in silence to explore the second floor. He does not expect to find much of consequence, though he does sense the lived-in atmosphere. Finding the room upstairs, Seimei closes his eyes, clears his mind and reaches out, attempting to enter a meditative trance and feel the former presence. Chanting to himself, he seeks to "see" the last events to occur per the emotional imprint left behind or, in lieu of that, reach out to any manner of spirit that might linger.

This task is frustrating him. In Japan, he was known as a master of finding things thought lost. This should be a simple task. At the least, he is determined to find out what happened to Marie, even if he cannot bring her back. For the sake of the others, Seimei seeks closure. ]

[At some point, roughly a week ago, Marie was definitely here in this room. She was searching for something, though she clearly did not know what that 'something' was, and as a result her searches were kind of haphazardly done.

Then suddenly the 'sense' of her goes from investigative to sheer panic, and the presence quickly leaves the room. And wherever she went, it was outside of the house entirely.

If Seimei can keep track of the time when sensing the presence of a person, about thirty minutes passes before the presence of Marie returns to the room. This time, she is absolutely furious, but the anger has been tempered into a determination of sorts. Her presence goes over to the desk in the room, and can be found on a bundle of papers which have been placed on the desk. Then her presence leaves the room, and the house itself, again.

Throughout all of this, Marie was not coerced with fear or mind-control of any sort. Every action she did was by choice.]

[ Opening his eyes slowly with a long-suffering sigh Seimei moves forward and picks up all of the papers, sending out a call to his shikigami to return. He would share his observations with the bird, let it mull over Marie's spiritual scent and send it out once more to follow the remaining path if it could.

Meanwhile, the onmyoji goes in search of Stein and Crona, holding the papers up. ]

Do these have any meaning to either of you? Lady Marie appears to have been very distressed while here, and these papers have something to do with it. Whatever she was here for, she left and has not come back. I cannot sense much more in this building, but the general direction is evidently out there.

[Crona cautiously reaches out and touches the papers, looking carefully at what can be seen without taking the papers out of Seimei's hand.

Maybe there's something familiar from the papers Marie had before, or the papers Osahar found in the farmhouse.]

[Just like the previous papers, these ones are written in a strange language. However, like before, it looks like the language that some of the NPCs can read.

There are some drawings on these papers as well, though they appear to be notes of some sort rather than an actual schematic. Whoever owned these used these papers as rough drafts for some kind of machine, several parts are scratched out, or numbers for calculations are altered here and there.

on one page in particular, there is a note hastily scribbled in a corner. It is in the same language, but it appears to be written quickly, and it is underlined a few times to show it's importance.]

Day 77 :: Event - Finding a Core

Group B: Finding Marie

Re: Group B: Finding Marie

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