The storm in my soul is like a silent supernova

Emy · Oct 19, 2015

Ishikawa Yuuto

"These crafts do have the tendency to remain within lineages," Ishikawa agreed distractedly. He felt around with his power for the other markers but the process was taking an unusually long amount of time. Occasionally, he would start towards one direction, pause, and then resume in another. The power leaks only made navigation that much more confusion. "My family, close and extended both, has a history of being rather unlucky with the more malicious spirits in existence," the man said. "It is normally safer to assume that trouble is afoot so instances when nothing turns up can be rather worrying."

A shard of memory abruptly snapped back and Ishikawa inhaled sharply. "Ah, I remember a bit more," he said in a satisfied tone. "Tokyo. I followed it from there to this island. It reminded me of something I had studied, I think, so I left as soon as I could because if it were the same entity, I knew that it would not linger in this state for long." As vague as that was, it was all he could recall. It was still better than nothing, however.

There was another marker ahead. As he had done with the last one, he pulled it off of the tree but turned his hand so that Iridian could see it. It was a simple rectangle of white paper with characters brushed over it, radiating a fainter amount of the same divine power that Ishikawa normally did. "This one is untouched. I do not think it is a flaw in the design. In any case, I made these myself so I think that would be a safe conclusion to make."

Iridian Death · Oct 20, 2015

@"Emy"

"Of course," she agreed, locking away the piece of information 'to assume that trouble is afoot'. Iridian could not believe that she had not been told that much earlier than this instance. However, she had always been in the company of her grandfather, so that, if things did happen to get out of hand, it would be easy for it to be resolved, and she would be out of danger.

Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Perhaps that explained his name. It didn't explain what 'it' was. The thing that caused him to die? What had he studied? "Did you see such thing? Is that what caused your demise?" she asked, curious to see if her questions potentially awoke his memory or not. She expected the latter, but tried nonetheless.

Following him as he continued to another talisman, she looked at it carefully. A scripture, a character. Looked fine, perhaps even perfect. "I do not see flaw myself, but maybe that is because I am unfamiliar to things like this," she suggested. A safe conclusion. Certainly the best kind to make, but had he not considered his state of matter? His power could drain, no doubt, if he became deceased. Iridian had also made a safe conclusion, that her new acquaintance was unaware of his death.

Emy · Oct 21, 2015

Ishikawa Yuuto

For a few moments, what Iridian said did not even register because the idea was so ludicrous and out of the realm of possibility that Ishikawa went on with what he was doing despite having heard it. For a little while, anyways, because once it had properly processed, he came to an abrupt stop and simply gave the girl an incredulous look of the purest disbelief. The mere suggestion already distressed him, even though there was absolutely no chance of it being true.

"Demise- no, your time spent in the company of the dead must be confusing your judgment." Obliviously, that was the reason why she had come to the Forbidden Forest in the first place. Ishikawa had no idea why he had not thought of it before but now that he had, everything suddenly made that much more sense. "I guarantee you that if I were really dead, I would not be here to bother you." Realizing that this argument was faulty when presented to a necromancer of all people, however, he amended quickly, "I would headed for reincarnation, most likely. Or, if I were to really haunt a person, I suppose it would be one of my siblings."

Because it really was a ridiculous idea. But it still bothered him greatly for some reason and any unease he had stowed away early came back at full force. "I am a priest," he emphasized, as if that would justify his denials. "I exorcism spirits on a regular basis. What kind of nonsense-"

Memory issues, that was all. It was nothing more than that and poor timing and a low quality batch of talismans. There were many things to blame but.

But.

Iridian Death · Oct 21, 2015

Her theory was proven correct. He looked at Iridian as if she was an idiot. She knew for a fact this man was far from alive, but he probably did not notice. He did not believe her. Well, then, she'd have to make him believe her. How, she wasn't sure, but she supposed it would come naturally. He would be forced to accept sooner or later.

Iridian was about to protest that she was not confused, but he had began to ramble, and when one began to ramble, she felt rather obliged to listen. He began to make excuses, that almost made her laugh. Almost. "Or the other side," she suggested. "But, of course, many are tied here due to... incomplete ambition... or, inconclusive destiny. Unfulfilled purposes," she throw some excuses back at him.

He was quite funny in his denial. It wasn't uncommon for a spirit to be in denial, but it was so to see one use their occupation as a reason why. It made Iridian feel upset for him, perhaps even pity. In such a position, she'd probably argue the same. "I assure, it is not nonsense," her voice got gentler, as if she was trying to explain to a child their dog had 'ran away'. This was the worst part of being stuck between life and death.

Shame.

@Emy

Emy · Oct 23, 2015

Ishikawa Yuuto

Despite his increasingly fervent denial that he was dead and that this necromancer was obviously addle-minded, Ishikawa was a rational enough person to bite down on the wave of protests that desperately wanted to be released. "I am not a child," he said slowly instead, the last word faintly biting. But he did not refute any of the other things she had said because he was thinking.

Ghosts in Japanese culture were, above all, an embarrassment to the person who was at their source. A person did not need to be deceased to have a ghost. Such things could be brought out by extreme emotions such as jealousy or hate. It was a reflection of a person's chaotic inner self, how they lacked control to manage it. Perhaps ghosts were viewed with fear but more than anything, these types were the focus of distaste. A deceased spirit, on the other hand, easily could be warped into one of those sorts. That was why the standard procedure for dealing with the deceased in Japan was immediate exorcism. Best to let one's loved ones die with dignity intact and untarnished by whatever ugly things might come after.

Ishikawa did not, in his personal opinion, feel dead. Every sensation was strange but he retained his powers even now and the world appeared as physical as it always did. He simply. Noticed changes. Unseen oil and air ran in the places where nothing should have been. Gods, he thought with a start. What would my siblings think? He had left without saying a word, after all. For all they knew, he had simply vanished into thin air.

But the priest did not think he was dead. He doubted. But he still did not really believe it. So he demanded of Iridian, "Tell me how your exorcisms work."

Iridian Death · Oct 24, 2015

She nodded. "Hence why I never called you one." Iridian knew what he meant, but that was merely because he sounded angry and she had a habit of doing so. "I'm sorry if I offended you, however." She decided that he deserved respect and gave him as such. "I didn't mean to do so."

He asked her another question, so firm she felt obliged to answer. She did not know what he wanted her to do, perform an exorcism on him? Things didn't work like that in her own culture, and she did not feel confident to perform such. She doubted that he wanted a lesson on exorcisms of different places.

"I... well... I just... I've never done it without a supervisor," she panicked at the idea of performing one. "But, I mean, we set them alight, and bury the remains, that sink to the other end. But I can't remember the words we have to say or where you're supposed to stand, or anything. Sorry." Feeling the need to apologise, despite not doing anything seemingly wrong, Iridian felt placed in an awkward situation for her skill level.

"After all, there's no evil, I don't need to perform one anyway. Exorcisms aren't performed for no reason," she insisted. Perhaps she was being a little paranoid and he didn't mean that at all, and there was a presence she could not sense, which was strange in itself. Even then, he could just perform his own home's, but then, the talismans didn't seem to work. Why didn't they try to leave this crazy forest?

Emy · Oct 26, 2015

Ishikawa Yuuto

Iridian, had, unknowingly, found the reason for why Ishikawa had been asking after her abilities. It was an utter disgrace to his family to fail even in the most basic action known to man -death. If she really could exorcise him and simply be done with it, he supposed that would have been the best option. Certainly, it was the one that he was obligated to immediately seek out.

Ishikawa closed his eyes for a moment and simply sighed, clicking his tongue in quiet disappointment. There. Breathing. He was still surely breathing, was he not? The dead did not need air, though he had the unsettling feeling that if he were to hold his breath, he would find that nothing would happen at all. Wistful thinking on all sides, although he could not say for sure whether he was trying to stay in the mindset of a living person or whether he was trying to accept her word at face value for the sake of having something substantial to hold onto when everything else was such a blur.

No, if she could do nothing, then he would at least be thankful for the space. There were no traditions dictating what he should do in the face of this unknown. He took another look around them, feeling about for the markers he had placed.

All along, he had been following them back out of the forest but now he wondered if he should have gone the other direction instead. If he should have just left the markers where they were and gone deeper in. Would he have found a body there? Or would it just have been a dead end? It would have been an easy way to find out but he had already lost connection with the ones going deeper in.

He made a distressed sound, a pinched look coming on his face. He could not even muster up angry or irritation for this contemplation. It was, to be simple and brief, a god awful problem.

Ishikawa continued to follow the way going out. "No matter then," he breathed. "We can deal with that issue at another time. It is not especially pressing." Except that it really was because it tied right in with the fact that a necromancer thought he was dead. "You are a student at the Academy, correct? Are your supervisors there as well?"

Iridian Death · Oct 26, 2015

"Yes, there are various members of staff," she nodded, and it gave her an idea. "Perhaps while you try to solve your problem," she air quoted at the final word, "You could help around school. They always look for new staff, and you could learn there also. There's other necromancers who could help you." She gave the suggestion lightly, without pressing it on. "And other ghosts." She was quieter, trying to not to be too upfront or even upsetting.

Feeling rather sorry for the guy, she wondered if there was a way to look around. Hell, it was dark on the floor compared to the forest itself, but footsteps in the ground would have been helpful in this situation. "But they will likely tell you to complete your destiny. Your death was likely an accident." A tragic, tragic accident. Perhaps he'd be reassured he was well and truly dead by hard evidence. But, on her way, she had not spotted a body, and if she had, she would've turned around. They should really have a path in this creepy forest. That, or a barbed wire fence to stop curious people.

Iridian found the anguish of Ishikawa was the worst part of the situation he had been placed in. He clearly did not like the idea of being a ghost. It was something people had mixed opinions on. Some enjoyed it, and found their new form was more flexible than their living state, and others, like him, were desperate for the other side. Neither had a higher chance of passing on by mere opinion. It was all in the name of patience. Patience was something she wasn't sure Ishikawa possessed, but she didn't have a good personality judgement.

"Perhaps we should be making our way out," she suggested, mostly because she doubted she would not find another interesting spirit, and partly because she didn't want to be killed by anything that killed him. Then they'd both be lost and dead. That, and class still existed, and late marks were not really that great on her report. Oh, yeah, and the sky was darkening.

"Some are angrier at night." Night was when the powers of the dead were strongest among the evil of ghosts. She doubted that there would only be friends in a place that started with the word 'forbidden'. It had been named for a reason, and she was not waiting to find out. She began to look around, as if an obvious path would jump out and say "Here I am!". A shed of extra light would really be great.

Emy · Oct 28, 2015

Ishikawa Yuuto

He twitched very slightly, although he had no idea why. "Yes," Ishikawa said, wondering why he suddenly felt so subdued at the mention of the time, "the night often is the most lively time of day for most spirits. It would be best to reach the treeline before the sun completely sets." Sunset was a beautiful time of day but also one of the most dangerous in Ishikawa's opinion. That was when things started to happen, often without any warning.

And then right at that moment, as he glanced back to see the necromancer picking carefully around the foliage, he remembered that just because he could sense where the markers were, it did not mean she could. In fact, reaching out to feel for them magically was such a natural action to him that Ishikawa had forgotten that he could not actually physically see them either. It was a miracle that he had not run into anything himself. Or just another result of being deceased.

Which was still completely up for debate. It honestly was and there would be no convincing him otherwise until they were well enough away from the forest.

With a quiet huff to himself, mostly out of self-directed frustration, Ishikawa gestured impatiently at a dense clump of bushes and debris. He lobbed just enough energy at it to effectively clear a path, walked to the other side to retrieve the talisman there, and then folded in on himself as a sickeningly feeling of abruptly becoming less real twisted at him. The sensation clawed in his stomach like thorns.

"The trail goes that way," he called back to Iridian, wheezing a bit as he tried to straighten. Though he managed, Ishikawa still felt compelled to check himself for wounds, to see if he really was bleeding out like he felt he was. The fact that he found nothing was not only extremely disturbing to him but also was shaking his steadfast faith in the fact that the necromancer could be wrong about everything.

If anybody who could sense aurae was nearby, they would be able to tell that a part of Ishikawa had simply winked out of existence. Temporary, yes, but also dangerous considering that his powers ran off of soul energy and the dead were only soul energy.

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The storm in my soul is like a silent supernova

Emy

Well-Known Member

Iridian Death

Well-Known Member

Emy

Well-Known Member

Iridian Death

Well-Known Member

Emy

Well-Known Member

Iridian Death

Well-Known Member

Emy

Well-Known Member

Iridian Death

Well-Known Member

Emy

Well-Known Member