EVENT: Battle Against the Kishin Adachi

[soul_mods]

Characters: Anyone who signed up for Mission 254
Location: Matsue City, Japan
Rating: PG13
Time: September 11th
Description: It's time to bring down the Kishin Adachi, once and for all!



Matsue was once a lovely city and a nice place for tourists to visit.

It is now a ghost town.

Some lucky citizens had managed to escape the city before things got really bad, but they are the minority. Even fewer still are those who stayed and are still alive.

Most of them are dead, or worse, they had been driven mad by the Madness the Kishin Adachi exuded and killed their fellow citizens and consumed their souls, becoming Kishin Eggs. To make matters worse, sometimes when you're fighting you'll hear the distant rattling of chains and some primal part of your soul knows, something wicked this way comes.

And then there's all the Yellow Fog...

Only those who persevere will make it to their final destination: the Adachi Art Museum where Adachi is.

It will not be an easy fight, but in order to prevent the fate of this city from befalling on another, everyone will need to try.

((OOC: Please indicate in the subject: Character || OPEN/CLOSED. There will be a separate thread for encountering Adachi. Event information is here.))

Comments

[vintage_magic]

"But this isn't Midgard," she pointed out. "You've said yourself that world was destroyed."

"I won't say I'm not disappointed at the things you did in your world and hurt that you tried to hide those things from me." The witch frowned seeing that passive look—was he still trying to hide things from her?—but didn't let go.

"But if you realize now that you were wrong, doesn't that mean you can try to make amends? Or do you intend to just go on hating yourself for it? Because it sounds to me you don't like yourself very much right now."

[lezard_valeth]

"Murderers cannot make amends. They died for nothing, in the wake of Lenneth's failure to defeat Loki. I was foolish to presume she would succeed, a beacon against Loki's cowardice and anger." So there was some self-loathing, it seemed.

"Hate myself? Ha! Quite the opposite..."

"You hate yourself now because you are powerless, just as you were powerless to save Lenneth even at full strength. I'm you, after all. You are a husk of your former self. Your magic made you. Now it unmakes you."

"Then you suppose I'm disappointed in myself."

"Such gentle wording. Do you intend to deny me?"

"And turn you into a monstrosity? No. We've better things to do than fight my own personal 'demons'. Are you quite finished?"

The Shadow gave them what could only best be described as a Stink Eye. Lezard sighed, adjusting his glasses.

"How does one 'accept' their Shadow, Miss Ivory? Simply tell it, yes, you're right?"

[vintage_magic]

"No, I suppose you can't change the past, especially with your world gone. Nothing will bring back those you killed, just as nothing could bring back the townsfolk who died from the snakes in my world." She couldn't help thinking of what Kanji had told her back in the foggy tunnel. "But that doesn't mean you can't repent and try to move on and become a better person instead of continuing to hate and punish yourself."

She couldn't help a tiny flinch when the Shadow looked at them. It was already halfway to becoming a monstrosity with its withered form and worn clothes.

"I guess you have to acknowledge that what it says is true. That it really is part of you."

[lezard_valeth]

It sounded so simple. Perhaps he ought stop shuffling his feet on the matter.

"...Then I suppose you're right. I failed Lenneth and found no solution that would reverse what happened. My hard work, my research, all I've done was for naught and it left me in self-loathing; to succeed in so many things before, only to fail here. It was something I couldn't fathom. I feel I am weak here, and 'weakness' is a word I refuse to accept into my vocabulary. I have a strength here, a strength I gain with my partner. But I suppose 'partner' isn't quite accurate right now, is it? It feels inadequate."

Lezard shrugged. "Lily Ivory, I feel, is something like my other half. Through our butting heads, I've come to learn much from her, that someone like me can indeed find alternative strengths and rise above what is expected of those of my ilk. I've committed unspeakable crimes; I've failed because of them. I do not tolerate failure, much less of myself, and will bolster my knowledge and power through my own means. There is always the opportunity to find new methods to achieve the best results, rather than the archaic 'tried and true'."

The Shadow slackened, sighed, and seemed content. With a careless shrug, he dissolved into a blue light and was gone.

[vintage_magic]

Lezard's Shadow vanished and Lily let out a little sigh of her own, a mix between relieved and exasperated.

"Now, you're making it sound like we're married. It's nice to know you think of me that way but it would have helped if you admitted some of this earlier instead of waiting until you were being threatened with decapitation by your double's minions." Was he trying to give her gray hairs?

Although she could see why he'd hide his past. If he'd been forthcoming about it early on, she'd likely have wanted little more to do with him and turned from him as he feared. But instead, he'd managed to worm his way into her soul. She wouldn't abandon him now. Still...

"And I reckon we're going to have to have a talk after we're out of this fog." It was going to take a bit of time for things to sink in and for her to sort out her feelings.

But for now, they had to get back on track. She looked around, checking to see if the skeletal warriors that had accompanied the Shadow had disappeared too.

[lezard_valeth]

The warriors had bowed out, fading with the Shadow. What remained was just the two of them and the fog, thinner now than before.

And the rattle of chains.

"Understood." Lezard turned and began his transformation.

"I'll begin the detection for the souls of other pairs. The Shadow's interference clearing seems to have cleared some of the fog as well."

[vintage_magic]

"Land sakes. Not that chain rattling menace again." It looked like she had some more running to do. At least, the better visibility would help.

Book in hand again, she reached for his soul, whatever hesitation she might have felt chased away by the rattle of chains. Neither of them were going to go home with a bullet wound if she could help it. Not even waiting for the familiar bond to fully form again, Lily took off, moving away from the sound.