[Exalted/SMT] Shard of a Broken Sun
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
al103
Grumpy Russian Bear (SV edition)
- Location
- Russia, Krasnoyarsk
If you are switching DS2 to mid 200X then there should be much less cellphones among population.Baughn said:
PS. I may misremember but in later anime series Amu had cellphone... well, that series was made IIRC 4 years later so situation changed and so did situation in anime to be closer to watchers.
PPS. Also in mid-200X there were not only less cellphones, there were less cellphones that could run complex apps...
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
It might be what I'm doing. I'd prefer to keep both timelines intact, but as you point out they aren't set at the same time.
It's not that odd for a ten-year-old to not have a cellphone, though. Not even in modern Japan. Amu is twelve in the anime, which helps to explain the difference.
It's not that odd for a ten-year-old to not have a cellphone, though. Not even in modern Japan. Amu is twelve in the anime, which helps to explain the difference.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm worried about who our party members will be, or if we'll meet any canon characters.
Hopefully we get Ikuto, who is sure to have a cellphone. And Utau because Angel and Demon Chara hellloooo~. I would also like one side of Tadase for added drama of life and death situations, an order of Nadeshiko, and a medium Sensei for the sake of an adult character for contrast. I have a coupon for three free family members and I hear that for a limited time only you can get a discount on student council members?
I love Wcdonalds.
Hopefully we get Ikuto, who is sure to have a cellphone. And Utau because Angel and Demon Chara hellloooo~. I would also like one side of Tadase for added drama of life and death situations, an order of Nadeshiko, and a medium Sensei for the sake of an adult character for contrast. I have a coupon for three free family members and I hear that for a limited time only you can get a discount on student council members?
I love Wcdonalds.
I don't remember sensei that well, but I already went over what would happen to The Prince (Tadase) and The Actor(Nadeshiko, thank you, I could not remember his/her name for the life of me) mentally and emotionally if they got stuck in this. Surprisingly they were two of three or four of the Guardians (I'm including the ones that came later in the series in this, who I just remembered aren't going to be there. Damn the Samurai would have been helpful.) that might be ok... or at least look it. Utau and Ikuto would be the best members to have in our party though, that I agree wholeheartedly with.Lilithium said:
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm kinda sad we won't get Rima.ShadowAngelBeta said:
Damn it. I wan't to say things that given my current age sound super weird or creepy, but I was 12 at the time so I'm stuck at that point regarding the show and it's characters. It's so weeeiiirddd
I never actually liked many of the Guardians back when I watched it. Tadase always struck me as a fop, not that I had a word for it at the time. Kukai was cool, but knid of too cool, in a way, like he couldn't be real almost? I can't remember the Crybaby's name but...Lilithium said:
Her dream was to be a baby? Just, what? I never got that. Nadeshiko I actually liked somewhat... granted the him/her thing made me go "uhhh..." Rima was The Clown I think, she had a nice dream/dream-self, although the circus theme was a little odd even if it made sense. The Samurai boy... well Tadase set my idea on pretty boys, but he wasn't to bad, just wished he used an actually sword, cause I think he just used a wooden one?Amu, Utau, and Ikuto were better made I think. Amu was funny with the "Cool" image she had going on all the while having the panicky thoughts on the inside, I found that hilarious. Utau still wasn't the best I think, but better than the Guardians at least, I mean she was a Pop Idol...
who had a crush... actually its has right now isn't it? ... Damn, ok has a crush on her (adopted/step?) brother (Ikuto). Which considering the crap they have to put up with is kind of understandable, a couple of mental cracks are to be expected. Ikuto is older than the rest of this cast so its expected he'd be better all around than the rest of the cast, but he's still got the whole... silent suffering thing(?) going on which is, again, understandable.And yes its very odd to try and talk about the show when they're so young and we're not anymore. Its also surprisingly hard not to skirt creeper territory, but there was a lot stuff (or maybe just a few things that have blazing neon signs looking at them now) that, in hindsight, was pretty creeper in the canon.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah.ShadowAngelBeta said:I never actually liked many of the Guardians back when I watched it. Tadase always struck me as a fop, not that I had a word for it at the time. Kukai was cool, but knid of too cool, in a way, like he couldn't be real almost? I can't remember the Crybaby's name but...
Amu, Utau, and Ikuto were better made I think. Amu was funny with the "Cool" image she had going on all the while having the panicky thoughts on the inside, I found that hilarious. Utau still wasn't the best I think, but better than the Guardians at least, I mean she was a Pop Idol...
And yes its very odd to try and talk about the show when they're so young and we're not anymore. Its also surprisingly hard not to skirt creeper territory, but there was a lot stuff (or maybe just a few things that have blazing neon signs looking at them now) that, in hindsight, was pretty creeper in the canon.
A part of me, well most honestly, thinks that Shugo Chara was intended to be a bit more serious about the kid's issues when I look back. I can only ponder if it was editor maniplulation like with Tokyo Mew Mew, which was at first going to be a horror manga if you can believe it or not, or Sailor Moon.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Well, this one is an SMT crossover so...Lilithium said:
I'm only passingly familiar with Tokyo Mew Mew, but I can see how that might have been a Horror Manga... damn Editors. And if I remember what I heard about Sailor Moon once, it was only supposed to be one season long, I.E. they all die against Beryl and never got revived. But the Editor vetoed that. Still the monsters from the manga were pretty much all Elderitch Abominations so... eh.Lilithium said:
... F*ck Yes!Baughn said:
So were the main characters, for that matter. Love and Justice powered Eldritch Abominations, but nonetheless.ShadowAngelBeta said:
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Sufficiently called, it doesn't affect Amu's actions this time around so I've been focused on writing.
I'm about 1.7 kW into the next snippet, of.. I'd estimate about 3kW, but tomorrow is Saturday so hopefully it won't be too long and I'll be able to post two snippets tomorrow. Hm. At this size, "Chapter" might be a good word for the chunk that doesn't involve that park.
I'm about 1.7 kW into the next snippet, of.. I'd estimate about 3kW, but tomorrow is Saturday so hopefully it won't be too long and I'll be able to post two snippets tomorrow. Hm. At this size, "Chapter" might be a good word for the chunk that doesn't involve that park.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Saturday's Eclipse 2
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Saturday's Eclipse, 12:10
Recovering from their overuse of Miki's character transformation was quick, at least to the point that by the time she was leaving her school's main building for the garden she could walk normally. In part, that was probably because they hadn't really done anything with it; they'd just stayed in class, paying as much attention as they normally did. Which was to say, they'd spent their time doodling.
Walking was as far as it went, however. Her mind was still pretty foggy, so once she reached the Guardians' tea house and found herself alone, she sank into her chair with a sigh of relief. She didn't get headaches, and this wasn't one, but it was still unpleasant in a way she couldn't name. Her head felt too full, like she'd been cramming for a test… for three days straight…
Her eyes drifted shut. She forced them back open, taking in the familiar but ever welcoming view. Flowering roses, shimmering light from the plastic dome she was sitting in… the tea house was really a repurposed greenhouse, and every bit as hot as you'd expect. Without someone to talk to, she was getting really sleepy.
She leaned backwards, staring up at the shimmer and letting her arms drop.
The way the light played over the dome was quite pretty, but too bright…
"Miki?" She wondered.
Oh. All three were sleeping on her lap. She smiled; that sounded nice.
The light played over her closed eyelids.
=======
"-even make sense? Hair doesn't-"
"So maybe she dyed it? Miki's-"
"Look, let's just ask Nikaidou-sensei." Tadase-kun? "It's pretty obvious that something's going on, and this isn't in the guide. There's one other person I want to ask, as well. She'll be fine until Monday."
"Don't know-"
"Why don't we just ask her?"
"Be quiet, guys!" Someone hissed. "Geez."
She shifted slightly, searching for a more comfortable position.
=======
"Amu-chan?" Someone was shaking her shoulder, and there was a bright light in her eyes. The feminine voice continued. "Amu-chan, time to wake up. You can't sleep all day."
"Five more minutes, Mom…" She squeezed her eyes shut, turning her head away from the brightness. Using a flashlight was cheating! "Just five more… minutes…"
There was a sound like shuffling clothes, but it was already fading away under the song like crystal chimes that was playing in her head. Thoughts flew back and forth under the surface of her consciousness, every part of her striving to straighten itself out and grow. Still, the annoying voices didn't stop.
"See? She won't wake up. I'm going back to sleep."
"Yaya… this isn't a slumber party…"
Yaya? What was she doing in her room?
Wait, was she in her room?
"You give up too easily. Here, let me show you how to wake people like her up."
Kukai?
She carefully tested her limbs, rediscovering their positions, and found that she was in fact sitting in a chair, face upwards. That probably meant the bright light in her eyes was the sun, and those voices were her friends, not her parents, which meant she was in the tea house. That's right, she'd fallen asleep -
Her eyes shot open just in time to spot Kukai's grinning face from about no distance at all, and then he grabbed her arms under her shoulders. No. Nonononono… She opened her mouth, wanting to tell him to stop, but…
"Wake - UP!"
She shrieked, and her Charas went tumbling off into the air as Kukai pulled her right out of her seat, lifting her all the way off the ground while laughing. The other guardians were sitting at the table, looking amused at the proceedings… well, except for Yaya, who had her arms on the table and was using them for a pillow. And he wasn't letting her down! Whether with Daichi's help or just on his own strength, he'd thrown her upwards fast enough that for a second or two she was in free-fall, the world tumbling around her.
She landed in his arms, on her back, and more than a little panicked.The last thing she could remember, she was sitting down to wait - but now suddenly she was being juggled?
Nadeshiko politely clapped, helping her to re-engage her brain. This was Kukai, he'd never hurt her, though his method of waking her up left something to be desired. Even so, he was currently holding her in bridal position…
"Ku… Kukai. Could you let me down now?" She asked, forcing that thought out of her head. It was harder than expected, but his face was also far closer than she was used to, and she had to remind herself that she absolutely didn't have a crush on him. He was far too old, for starters, already in sixth grade.
"So long as you'll agree to stay awake," he grinned.
"Of course I will! Nobody could sleep through that," she said, a little heat entering her voice. "A-anyway, just let me down - please?" She asked, feeling a little helpless.
"When you ask like that, how could I say no?"
He let her down, theatrically bowing once she was on her feet again. This time Tadase-kun joined in on the clapping. She blushed fiercely, turning away so they wouldn't be able to see.
They stopped after a few seconds, and Tadase started speaking. "All right. Now, if someone would please wake Yaya as well, we can get the meeting started. The order of the day is… Amu, your hair. Kukai, could you please wake Yaya?" Wait, what was that about her hair?
When she turned back to the others Kukai was approaching Yaya, an evil glint in his eye. She'd warn her, but… honestly, Yaya probably deserved it.
=======
12:50
Finally, all five of them were awake and sitting at the table. Nadeshiko's tea had long since cooled down, sad to say - but that was relatively okay, Su was happy to provide a replacement. It was a little too good, that was all; if they didn't save it for special occasions, eating Su's food would put anyone off the stuff they got at lunch.
She probably shouldn't tell Nadeshiko that. Being on her bad side could be dangerous.
"So," Tadase said, a few minutes later. "Amu, your hair… just to confirm, it's dyed, right?"
Huh? "Of course. Why, did you think pink was my natural colour?"
"Dyed pink." He closed his eyes. "Right, of course."
"Why, what are you getting at?" She was getting really confused, now. Takase was acting unusually serious, the other three were also looking shifty, and Ran and the others were in a huddle on the table with Daichi, Kiseki and Temari. She was starting to get the feeling something was wrong. "Tadase-kun?"
Kukai stood and walked over to her, forcing her to look upwards. "Kukai?"
"Hold still, it'll be easier to show you. I'm going to pull out a hair now, sorry, this'll probably hurt a bit."
"Eeh?"
She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling Kukai's hands on her head. There was a sharp nip, and she slowly opened them again.
"You have… brown roots," Kukai stated, holding the separated hair up for her to see. That was right, her hair was brown just like Mommy's, so then, why… why did the one he was holding fade into blue instead of brown?
She sat stock still, a flurry of panicked thoughts passing through her mind. What could she do? There was no way she could keep this hidden. It was obviously happening because of the transformation, but her hair hadn't been blue before, so why… no, but she hadn't checked the roots, had she? Maybe it was blue under the dye. It did seem a slightly different tint of pink than she was used to.
Tadase took pity on her. "It's just the one lock of hair on the side of your head, now, but your roots were all blue when we got here. It seems to be fading pretty quickly. It's strange, though; were you doing something unusual with Miki, maybe?"
She jerked, and Yaya smiled. "Bulls-eye?"
Amu poked two fingers together, trying to think of a good way to spin this. "We… I may have kept Miki's character transformation up until I fell asleep from the exertion? Just to see how long we could?"
Tadase face-palmed. "Amu-chan…"
She tried defending herself. "It's not that bad an idea, is it? I mean, it might be important to know, one day, and it's really no different than practicing running, right?"
"Running doesn't usually cause blue hair. How long?"
"Being good at drawing is nice, too!" She was babbling, now. "And Miki's better than me at schoolwork in general… I mean, when we're paying attention… so I thought it'd be a good idea. And it was a good idea! I mean, I had more fun in school today than I usually have in a week!"
Tadase silenced her with an uplifted hand.
"Amu-chan. How long?"
Miki approached her, flanked by Ran and Su. They all looked downcast. "Amu-chan…"
She quieted down. Considering that she'd previously only used transformations for a minute or two, it was true that she hadn't really thought this through. Miki would never want to hurt her, but neither of them actually understood how it worked, so that wasn't as good a guarantee as she might hope for. In that case, it'd be best if she owned up… well, she probably shouldn't mention that she'd usually use a chara change to get through school…
"Three and a half… hours?" She admitted.
The other Guardians looked uneasily at each other.
"So since before we got to school, then," Kukai burst out. "How can you even… Daichi and I can't even transform at all, how can you hold it for that long?"
"That's not really the issue here," Tadase said. "Amu, I don't think you should transform again. Not until we've figured out what's going on, or at least not until you're completely back to normal. There are some people I can ask about this, but I won't be able to talk to them until Monday. Until then, I suggest you rest, and maybe it'll fix itself on its own."
Kukai and Nadeshiko nodded along, but Yaya…
"It's just a blue stripe, what's the problem! It's very eye-catching, too. I think you'd look prettier if it wasn't dyed over, Amu-chan!"
Tadase turned to Yaya and started explaining. "The problem really isn't what she looks like, it's the implications. For all we know, it might be dangerous. Her appearance isn't -"
She tuned them out, thinking about what Yaya had said. It's very eye-catching? But then, that would mean… And she was going to the park with Mom later, too, she'd definitely notice! What was she supposed to say, she'd randomly decided to dye one stripe blue, but just the roots? When she wasn't even allowed to go to the hairdresser on her own, because Mommy wanted veto rights and/or wanted to help her decide on a cute hairstyle? She'd figure it out for sure! Oh no…
"Hey. Hey, guys?" She said, voice tightly controlled. "Do any of you have pink hair dye?"
They looked at her, and she could practically see the moment it clicked. Tadase paled. "You mean, you don't?"
She shook her head. "Too much work to do it that way, and apparently it'd hurt my hair. I always get permanent dye applied at the hair salon, when I go there with Mom. Otherwise there wouldn't have been roots showing."
"And then we wouldn't even have noticed." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't have any. Anyone?"
For a long second no-one responded, then Nadeshiko tentatively raised her hand. "I don't have pink dye, but… I do have blue. We could use that?"
Amu thought that over for a second. Obviously she couldn't cover it up with blue dye, but she could paint over the pink, that was covering blue strands, with a second layer of blue. That would, at least, look more natural. Mom would probably object to her having her hair coloured by anyone but a professional, but she wouldn't realise that some of it wasn't paint.
She slowly nodded. "That would be great, Nadeshiko-chan. Thank you."
That seemed to be it for the meeting. They spent another five minutes making small-talk, but she couldn't stay there for very long if she was going to make it to Nadeshiko's place and back in time to go to the park. Tadase nabbed her for a moment when she was heading out, though.
"So, are we still on for Complete Annihilation tomorrow?" He asked.
She smiled. "Of course. I've been practicing, you know. This time I'm sure I'll be able to drop another handicap level."
Tadase chuckled. "Glad to hear it. I'll see you then."
=======
Nadeshiko's house was hidden behind a local shrine, where you couldn't see it from the street. It was also huge, much larger than hers, and very traditional-looking. Was Nadeshiko's family rich?
They were welcomed at the door by an older lady, who addressed Nadeshiko as "Nadeshiko-sama" and "Young mistress". Nadeshiko quickly pulled her inside and to her room, which turned out to be the rough size of Amu's living room.
While Nadeshiko was looking for dying tools, Amu looked around her room. It was extremely clean and tidy, but some of the decorations were more than a little strange.
"Are those kabuki masks?" She wondered.
"Yes, a gift from my uncle," Nadeshiko answered distractedly. "I've never had a chance to use them, but… just a moment." She stuck her head outside the door, raising her voice a little. "Kawashima-san, could you get the styling equipment? No, don't worry about refreshments, we already had some at school and Amu-chan won't be long."
Kawashima-san, the old lady who'd welcomed them - probably no more than fifty or so, but that was old enough - soon returned, carrying a full set of hairstyling tools. Huh.
"Right. Amu-chan, please sit down, and I'll take care of it. Kawashima-san… I'm afraid Amu-chan was victim of a terrible dying accident, so we're going to try fixing it up a little. Right here on the floor is fine…"
Right, because she didn't have any chairs. Right.
She sat down, cross-legged. Nadeshiko rummaged behind her for a bit.
"Now, close your eyes, just in case…"
Nadeshiko started combing her hair, and she shivered, enjoying the sensation. There were a few moments of coldness, water being sprayed over her hair, then she was pulling a strand of her hair outwards and - dragging a brush over it? Amu couldn't really follow what was happening, but there was no reason to worry. Minutes passed.
Nadeshiko paused. "Hm…"
"It's not really the same colour," Ran critiqued. "Look at the roots, they're a much brighter shade of blue. Shouldn't you be using bleach, and stuff?"
"I think it looks nice," Su said.
"Well, we don't really have time to do it properly, but this will come off in the wash. You can use the day to figure out if you'd really like blue stripes or not," Nadeshiko explained. She was thrown for a moment, but then she realised that Kawashima-san was still there, and Nadeshiko couldn't really speak freely. "Do you want me to add a few more stripes?"
More of them? Why would she want that?
"…it'd make it harder to notice that one of the stripes is different," Miki pointed out in a low voice.
Oh. Then… "Then, if you don't mind. Maybe a few more?"
"As you desire." She could almost hear Nadeshiko smiling.
=======
They were back at the entrance, Amu somewhat awkwardly wondering how to say goodbye. Nadeshiko had really helped her out, and she felt she needed to do something extra, but…
"I guess I probably shouldn't hug you, huh?"
Nadeshiko smiled. "Not for another twenty minutes, no. It's fast-drying dye - water-soluble paint, really - but if you did that right now I'd still get blue paint all over me. I appreciate the thought, though."
"Then, how about I come by another time? Monday, maybe? I didn't really have time to look around, either."
"That would be great, but I'm busy on Monday. How about Tuesday?"
"He he he he," Kawashima-san suddenly cackled. "It's so nice to see the young ma-to see that the young mistress has good friends."
Amu paled, slightly freaked out. "R… right. Sounds good to me. I'll see you then!" She waved, then turned away and… walked very quickly. She definitely wasn't running away!
"Kawashima-san!" Nadeshiko protested. "You did that on purpose!"
"He he he he he…"
"Amu… I'm scared…" Su said, nestling into her jacket. She shook her head, wondering what kind of home life Nadeshiko had. "Let's just get home…"
- Amu has regained two points of willpower. So she now has two.
A/N: Dear Jade this thing got huge, and it's not over yet. You can expect the next segment shortly, possibly even before you see this; then, there will finally be choices.
[ ] ...
Recovering from their overuse of Miki's character transformation was quick, at least to the point that by the time she was leaving her school's main building for the garden she could walk normally. In part, that was probably because they hadn't really done anything with it; they'd just stayed in class, paying as much attention as they normally did. Which was to say, they'd spent their time doodling.
Walking was as far as it went, however. Her mind was still pretty foggy, so once she reached the Guardians' tea house and found herself alone, she sank into her chair with a sigh of relief. She didn't get headaches, and this wasn't one, but it was still unpleasant in a way she couldn't name. Her head felt too full, like she'd been cramming for a test… for three days straight…
Her eyes drifted shut. She forced them back open, taking in the familiar but ever welcoming view. Flowering roses, shimmering light from the plastic dome she was sitting in… the tea house was really a repurposed greenhouse, and every bit as hot as you'd expect. Without someone to talk to, she was getting really sleepy.
She leaned backwards, staring up at the shimmer and letting her arms drop.
The way the light played over the dome was quite pretty, but too bright…
"Miki?" She wondered.
Oh. All three were sleeping on her lap. She smiled; that sounded nice.
The light played over her closed eyelids.
=======
"-even make sense? Hair doesn't-"
"So maybe she dyed it? Miki's-"
"Look, let's just ask Nikaidou-sensei." Tadase-kun? "It's pretty obvious that something's going on, and this isn't in the guide. There's one other person I want to ask, as well. She'll be fine until Monday."
"Don't know-"
"Why don't we just ask her?"
"Be quiet, guys!" Someone hissed. "Geez."
She shifted slightly, searching for a more comfortable position.
=======
"Amu-chan?" Someone was shaking her shoulder, and there was a bright light in her eyes. The feminine voice continued. "Amu-chan, time to wake up. You can't sleep all day."
"Five more minutes, Mom…" She squeezed her eyes shut, turning her head away from the brightness. Using a flashlight was cheating! "Just five more… minutes…"
There was a sound like shuffling clothes, but it was already fading away under the song like crystal chimes that was playing in her head. Thoughts flew back and forth under the surface of her consciousness, every part of her striving to straighten itself out and grow. Still, the annoying voices didn't stop.
"See? She won't wake up. I'm going back to sleep."
"Yaya… this isn't a slumber party…"
Yaya? What was she doing in her room?
Wait, was she in her room?
"You give up too easily. Here, let me show you how to wake people like her up."
Kukai?
She carefully tested her limbs, rediscovering their positions, and found that she was in fact sitting in a chair, face upwards. That probably meant the bright light in her eyes was the sun, and those voices were her friends, not her parents, which meant she was in the tea house. That's right, she'd fallen asleep -
Her eyes shot open just in time to spot Kukai's grinning face from about no distance at all, and then he grabbed her arms under her shoulders. No. Nonononono… She opened her mouth, wanting to tell him to stop, but…
"Wake - UP!"
She shrieked, and her Charas went tumbling off into the air as Kukai pulled her right out of her seat, lifting her all the way off the ground while laughing. The other guardians were sitting at the table, looking amused at the proceedings… well, except for Yaya, who had her arms on the table and was using them for a pillow. And he wasn't letting her down! Whether with Daichi's help or just on his own strength, he'd thrown her upwards fast enough that for a second or two she was in free-fall, the world tumbling around her.
She landed in his arms, on her back, and more than a little panicked.The last thing she could remember, she was sitting down to wait - but now suddenly she was being juggled?
Nadeshiko politely clapped, helping her to re-engage her brain. This was Kukai, he'd never hurt her, though his method of waking her up left something to be desired. Even so, he was currently holding her in bridal position…
"Ku… Kukai. Could you let me down now?" She asked, forcing that thought out of her head. It was harder than expected, but his face was also far closer than she was used to, and she had to remind herself that she absolutely didn't have a crush on him. He was far too old, for starters, already in sixth grade.
"So long as you'll agree to stay awake," he grinned.
"Of course I will! Nobody could sleep through that," she said, a little heat entering her voice. "A-anyway, just let me down - please?" She asked, feeling a little helpless.
"When you ask like that, how could I say no?"
He let her down, theatrically bowing once she was on her feet again. This time Tadase-kun joined in on the clapping. She blushed fiercely, turning away so they wouldn't be able to see.
They stopped after a few seconds, and Tadase started speaking. "All right. Now, if someone would please wake Yaya as well, we can get the meeting started. The order of the day is… Amu, your hair. Kukai, could you please wake Yaya?" Wait, what was that about her hair?
When she turned back to the others Kukai was approaching Yaya, an evil glint in his eye. She'd warn her, but… honestly, Yaya probably deserved it.
=======
12:50
Finally, all five of them were awake and sitting at the table. Nadeshiko's tea had long since cooled down, sad to say - but that was relatively okay, Su was happy to provide a replacement. It was a little too good, that was all; if they didn't save it for special occasions, eating Su's food would put anyone off the stuff they got at lunch.
She probably shouldn't tell Nadeshiko that. Being on her bad side could be dangerous.
"So," Tadase said, a few minutes later. "Amu, your hair… just to confirm, it's dyed, right?"
Huh? "Of course. Why, did you think pink was my natural colour?"
"Dyed pink." He closed his eyes. "Right, of course."
"Why, what are you getting at?" She was getting really confused, now. Takase was acting unusually serious, the other three were also looking shifty, and Ran and the others were in a huddle on the table with Daichi, Kiseki and Temari. She was starting to get the feeling something was wrong. "Tadase-kun?"
Kukai stood and walked over to her, forcing her to look upwards. "Kukai?"
"Hold still, it'll be easier to show you. I'm going to pull out a hair now, sorry, this'll probably hurt a bit."
"Eeh?"
She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling Kukai's hands on her head. There was a sharp nip, and she slowly opened them again.
"You have… brown roots," Kukai stated, holding the separated hair up for her to see. That was right, her hair was brown just like Mommy's, so then, why… why did the one he was holding fade into blue instead of brown?
She sat stock still, a flurry of panicked thoughts passing through her mind. What could she do? There was no way she could keep this hidden. It was obviously happening because of the transformation, but her hair hadn't been blue before, so why… no, but she hadn't checked the roots, had she? Maybe it was blue under the dye. It did seem a slightly different tint of pink than she was used to.
Tadase took pity on her. "It's just the one lock of hair on the side of your head, now, but your roots were all blue when we got here. It seems to be fading pretty quickly. It's strange, though; were you doing something unusual with Miki, maybe?"
She jerked, and Yaya smiled. "Bulls-eye?"
Amu poked two fingers together, trying to think of a good way to spin this. "We… I may have kept Miki's character transformation up until I fell asleep from the exertion? Just to see how long we could?"
Tadase face-palmed. "Amu-chan…"
She tried defending herself. "It's not that bad an idea, is it? I mean, it might be important to know, one day, and it's really no different than practicing running, right?"
"Running doesn't usually cause blue hair. How long?"
"Being good at drawing is nice, too!" She was babbling, now. "And Miki's better than me at schoolwork in general… I mean, when we're paying attention… so I thought it'd be a good idea. And it was a good idea! I mean, I had more fun in school today than I usually have in a week!"
Tadase silenced her with an uplifted hand.
"Amu-chan. How long?"
Miki approached her, flanked by Ran and Su. They all looked downcast. "Amu-chan…"
She quieted down. Considering that she'd previously only used transformations for a minute or two, it was true that she hadn't really thought this through. Miki would never want to hurt her, but neither of them actually understood how it worked, so that wasn't as good a guarantee as she might hope for. In that case, it'd be best if she owned up… well, she probably shouldn't mention that she'd usually use a chara change to get through school…
"Three and a half… hours?" She admitted.
The other Guardians looked uneasily at each other.
"So since before we got to school, then," Kukai burst out. "How can you even… Daichi and I can't even transform at all, how can you hold it for that long?"
"That's not really the issue here," Tadase said. "Amu, I don't think you should transform again. Not until we've figured out what's going on, or at least not until you're completely back to normal. There are some people I can ask about this, but I won't be able to talk to them until Monday. Until then, I suggest you rest, and maybe it'll fix itself on its own."
Kukai and Nadeshiko nodded along, but Yaya…
"It's just a blue stripe, what's the problem! It's very eye-catching, too. I think you'd look prettier if it wasn't dyed over, Amu-chan!"
Tadase turned to Yaya and started explaining. "The problem really isn't what she looks like, it's the implications. For all we know, it might be dangerous. Her appearance isn't -"
She tuned them out, thinking about what Yaya had said. It's very eye-catching? But then, that would mean… And she was going to the park with Mom later, too, she'd definitely notice! What was she supposed to say, she'd randomly decided to dye one stripe blue, but just the roots? When she wasn't even allowed to go to the hairdresser on her own, because Mommy wanted veto rights and/or wanted to help her decide on a cute hairstyle? She'd figure it out for sure! Oh no…
"Hey. Hey, guys?" She said, voice tightly controlled. "Do any of you have pink hair dye?"
They looked at her, and she could practically see the moment it clicked. Tadase paled. "You mean, you don't?"
She shook her head. "Too much work to do it that way, and apparently it'd hurt my hair. I always get permanent dye applied at the hair salon, when I go there with Mom. Otherwise there wouldn't have been roots showing."
"And then we wouldn't even have noticed." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't have any. Anyone?"
For a long second no-one responded, then Nadeshiko tentatively raised her hand. "I don't have pink dye, but… I do have blue. We could use that?"
Amu thought that over for a second. Obviously she couldn't cover it up with blue dye, but she could paint over the pink, that was covering blue strands, with a second layer of blue. That would, at least, look more natural. Mom would probably object to her having her hair coloured by anyone but a professional, but she wouldn't realise that some of it wasn't paint.
She slowly nodded. "That would be great, Nadeshiko-chan. Thank you."
That seemed to be it for the meeting. They spent another five minutes making small-talk, but she couldn't stay there for very long if she was going to make it to Nadeshiko's place and back in time to go to the park. Tadase nabbed her for a moment when she was heading out, though.
"So, are we still on for Complete Annihilation tomorrow?" He asked.
She smiled. "Of course. I've been practicing, you know. This time I'm sure I'll be able to drop another handicap level."
Tadase chuckled. "Glad to hear it. I'll see you then."
=======
Nadeshiko's house was hidden behind a local shrine, where you couldn't see it from the street. It was also huge, much larger than hers, and very traditional-looking. Was Nadeshiko's family rich?
They were welcomed at the door by an older lady, who addressed Nadeshiko as "Nadeshiko-sama" and "Young mistress". Nadeshiko quickly pulled her inside and to her room, which turned out to be the rough size of Amu's living room.
While Nadeshiko was looking for dying tools, Amu looked around her room. It was extremely clean and tidy, but some of the decorations were more than a little strange.
"Are those kabuki masks?" She wondered.
"Yes, a gift from my uncle," Nadeshiko answered distractedly. "I've never had a chance to use them, but… just a moment." She stuck her head outside the door, raising her voice a little. "Kawashima-san, could you get the styling equipment? No, don't worry about refreshments, we already had some at school and Amu-chan won't be long."
Kawashima-san, the old lady who'd welcomed them - probably no more than fifty or so, but that was old enough - soon returned, carrying a full set of hairstyling tools. Huh.
"Right. Amu-chan, please sit down, and I'll take care of it. Kawashima-san… I'm afraid Amu-chan was victim of a terrible dying accident, so we're going to try fixing it up a little. Right here on the floor is fine…"
Right, because she didn't have any chairs. Right.
She sat down, cross-legged. Nadeshiko rummaged behind her for a bit.
"Now, close your eyes, just in case…"
Nadeshiko started combing her hair, and she shivered, enjoying the sensation. There were a few moments of coldness, water being sprayed over her hair, then she was pulling a strand of her hair outwards and - dragging a brush over it? Amu couldn't really follow what was happening, but there was no reason to worry. Minutes passed.
Nadeshiko paused. "Hm…"
"It's not really the same colour," Ran critiqued. "Look at the roots, they're a much brighter shade of blue. Shouldn't you be using bleach, and stuff?"
"I think it looks nice," Su said.
"Well, we don't really have time to do it properly, but this will come off in the wash. You can use the day to figure out if you'd really like blue stripes or not," Nadeshiko explained. She was thrown for a moment, but then she realised that Kawashima-san was still there, and Nadeshiko couldn't really speak freely. "Do you want me to add a few more stripes?"
More of them? Why would she want that?
"…it'd make it harder to notice that one of the stripes is different," Miki pointed out in a low voice.
Oh. Then… "Then, if you don't mind. Maybe a few more?"
"As you desire." She could almost hear Nadeshiko smiling.
=======
They were back at the entrance, Amu somewhat awkwardly wondering how to say goodbye. Nadeshiko had really helped her out, and she felt she needed to do something extra, but…
"I guess I probably shouldn't hug you, huh?"
Nadeshiko smiled. "Not for another twenty minutes, no. It's fast-drying dye - water-soluble paint, really - but if you did that right now I'd still get blue paint all over me. I appreciate the thought, though."
"Then, how about I come by another time? Monday, maybe? I didn't really have time to look around, either."
"That would be great, but I'm busy on Monday. How about Tuesday?"
"He he he he," Kawashima-san suddenly cackled. "It's so nice to see the young ma-to see that the young mistress has good friends."
Amu paled, slightly freaked out. "R… right. Sounds good to me. I'll see you then!" She waved, then turned away and… walked very quickly. She definitely wasn't running away!
"Kawashima-san!" Nadeshiko protested. "You did that on purpose!"
"He he he he he…"
"Amu… I'm scared…" Su said, nestling into her jacket. She shook her head, wondering what kind of home life Nadeshiko had. "Let's just get home…"
- Amu has regained two points of willpower. So she now has two.
A/N: Dear Jade this thing got huge, and it's not over yet. You can expect the next segment shortly, possibly even before you see this; then, there will finally be choices.
[ ] ...
That actually looks pretty damn cool. If it were a quest where that might actually matter in the short-term, I'd say make it permanent. But seeing as everything's going to go to hell soon, it doesn't *sadface*Baughn said:
Also that was a full-blown Chara-Transformation... what'd she do with her brush? Or does she have an Elsewhere pocket already when transformed?
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
If it was a full-blown transformation her hair would be blue, dye or no dye. It was somewhere in between that and a chara change.ShadowAngelBeta said:
And the brush is something she can make at will. It's not a real object, as such.
I was getting confused because me and Alectai figured it was a half-way between the two type thing and then she called it a transformation here, but that clears that up. Thank you.Baughn said:
Saturday's Eclipse 3
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Saturday's Eclipse, 15:00
"Next stop, Yoyogi park station. Yoyogi park station."
Gadunk. Gadunk.
The train continued to run, taking them ever closer to the park.
Amu shivered and grabbed Mommy's hand tightly, moulding herself against her side. Mom looked questioningly at her for a moment, but only reacted by ruffling her hair and putting an arm around her. Normally she would have protested, but normally she didn't feel this hungry for attention; she'd been feeling unsettled ever since they left home, like there wasn't enough time.
Instead she leaned in further, resting her head on Mom's shoulder and drinking in her warmth. Ran, Miki and Su even joined in, sitting on her shoulders and the back of the seat, trying to get as close to Mom as they could without touching her. She felt sorry for them, not being able to do that; Miki especially, since she was still feeling down from what happened earlier.
"Hey, you," Mommy chuckled. "Not that I mind, but you're being unusually touchy-feely. Did something happen?"
"No," she denied. "Nothing bad." That was true, wasn't it? Today had been a good day, one of many to come. There was absolutely no reason she should feel this way, that any of them should feel this way. And yet…
"Yoyogi park station. Yoyogi park station. Please do not push, and leave the train in an orderly fashion."
She shivered again, a wave of - something - passing through her, but then the train was slowing to a halt, and Mommy pulled her to her feet. It was fine, wasn't it? Nothing bad could happen while they were together.
Mom smiled down at her. "Come on, sweetheart, let's see if we can beat the crowd. It's a little bit of a walk, so the sooner we get out of the station -"
"The sooner we get to the park, yes." She grinned, putting the odd feeling out of her mind.
=======
"So do you want to talk about it? Your not-boyfriend, I mean."
Amu blushed, and tried to buy herself time by chomping down on a large chunk of her ice-cream. Ugh, right… the original purpose they'd gone here was to discuss Ikuto, or rather a carefully edited version of Ikuto, but now she didn't want to do that. She swung her legs back and forth under the park bench, trying to think of how best to explain it.
"Can we do that in ten minutes?" She asked.
"Sure. It's a nice day, after all." Mom leaned back, turning her face to the sun and closing her eyes.
It really was. They were in the middle of Yoyogi park, one of the larger parks in their section of Tokyo, and in her opinion also the prettiest. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and she'd even spotted a deer eating grass while they were walking in, though when she'd asked Mommy to take a photo… she had admittedly been too excited, jumping around enough that the poor animal ran away well before Mom could get out her camera.
There were strangely few other people in the park, given those conditions, but she thought that might have been due to the commotion outside; some kind of religious procession, which a lot of people had been watching. She hoped they'd march through the park, though that seemed unlikely; the face-masks had looked interesting, even if it was a little scary to see that many people dressed up like that.
What should she say about Ikuto, though?
She hopped off the bench and started pacing, deep in thought. Obviously she couldn't give his age; she probably shouldn't say his name, either, just in case Mom looks him up. If she did ask about his age… um, let's say he's fourteen? Right, and he was someone from the middle school attached to her grade-school, who kept helping her out if she got in trouble… well, she could just tell the truth about that, if not about the type of trouble. Unfortunately he already had a girlfriend… well, no, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to be Ikuto's girlfriend, that sounded like she'd be going a bit too far. She definitely wanted him to pay more attention to her, though…
She sighed, scuffing her shoes on the ground. Even figuring out what she wanted was hard, never mind safely explaining it. Maybe she should have asked Utau? She rapidly shook her head. No, that wouldn't work, asking your rival about love sounded like the worst idea ever, and Utau was always so busy, not to mention she was an enemy.
That was something she needed to keep in mind. Utau worked for Easter, and kept trying to destroy people's dreams, so that made her an enemy, and mean besides. Never mind how sad and listless she sometimes looked… she definitely wasn't enjoying it…
"Amu… Amu!" Su spoke up, alarmed. "Can you hear that?"
"Hear what?" She stopped walking, listening closely.
"That! Off in the distance, someone…"
Now that Su had pointed it out, she could. Only barely, but the volume kept increasing, shouts and… were those screams?
You consider the situation, and strengthen her compassion slightly. Only slightly; that's all that's needed.
She wanted to wake Mom and get out of here, she really didn't want to go towards that noise, but if something bad was happening… if she had a chance at helping, she had to take the risk. With Ran and the others, she shouldn't be in any real danger anyway, and they'd already discovered that Su could fix small wounds.
Squeezing tears out of her eyes, she started sprinting towards the screams, her feet hammering against the asphalt. Behind her, she could hear Mommy's startled shout of "Amu?", but then she was around a corner and accelerating. Sorry, mom…
"Ran, please," she said, the urgency in her voice overriding any concerns Ran might have had about doing another transformation so soon. Her vision swam for a moment, then cleared; as Amulet Heart, she could run faster than anyone, and it'd get her there in time. In time for what, she wasn't sure yet.
=======
The scene, when she found it, was like someone had made a nightmare out what should have been an idyllic clearing.
There was a large group of people in yellow uniforms, surrounding a smaller number of what appeared to be… nuns, or something like that. Mixed in with the nuns were the ones from the religious procession that had been passing by outside, and she could see frequent scuffles and even some fights, but for the most part they seemed to have formed an alliance against the surrounding group.
She could see bodies on the ground, bleeding…
Amu made her way closer, keeping to the trees; she'd found that people generally didn't look up, and these people were definitely preoccupied. She wasn't sure what to do - the uniforms gave a sense of authority, which meant there might be no need for her to help, but everything was obviously not all right yet. Instead of charging in, she climbed closer and tried to eavesdrop, to see if she could figure out what was going on. One of the yellow-suited men was almost directly beneath her, now, and talking on a cellphone…
"…Yes, Chief Hotsuin. No, we haven't found him yet. He should be hiding in the crowd."
There was a long pause.
"…Are you certain? No, I didn't mean to question you, but… yes, I see. We won't let him get away."
He fiddled with his phone for a second, then raised his voice. "Listen up! We're go for plan D. Repeat, go for plan D!"
Amu stared at the phone. It might be her imagination, but…
A blob of shadow formed around his arm, spreading from the phone, then fell on the ground and formed into a cat…monster. It took twenty seconds, during which her eyes got wider and wider, and she could see similar flares of darkness from most of the other uniformed people… Miki and Su hid behind her back, and she couldn't help it, she screamed in fear.
The man beneath her turned and looked up, a startled curse on his lips -
The cat-demon leaped, right towards her, and she instinctively hit it with a heart-beam. It only grazed it, but that was enough to throw it off course, sending it flying helplessly into mid-air.
The beam continued, arcing over the combined groups -
Many of the people on her side of it turned around to see what was happening, and in that very moment a deeper, fundamentally worse shadow bloomed in the middle of the group -
Screams ensued, as the shadow formed into a monster beyond her understanding and started tearing its way out. The surrounding group turned back, preparing to fight, but they had lost the initiative and were out of position. She didn't know… she didn't understand half of what was going on, only that it was somehow her fault. What… what should she…
"Amu! Watch out!" Miki shouted from behind her, and she spun, only to see the cat-demon back on the ground and about to jump at her again. There was a shout from beneath her, but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying. No, no, no… she didn't want to die… she was scared out of her wits, but she didn't want to run away either. She had to help, somehow…
=======
That did not go quite as you had intended. You aren't sure what just happened, only that it would not have happened in Creation. Still, this is probably a good time to exalt her. You could wait, but you'd run the risk of Amu taking damage that would make the exaltation insufficient for her survival.
You don't have to. The events you have witnessed today are sufficiently abnormal, for a human, that she only barely counts as human enough to exalt. In fact, the scales are weighed evenly enough that it's your conscious decision that will decide. Undoing the exaltation is impossible, short of death, and even if the scales should shift further that will not weigh on your behaviour afterwards.
[ ] Wait and see. Perhaps give her a few nudges to let her survive.
[ ] Exaltation time.
- [ ] Focus on survival and personal power.
- [ ] Focus on ways to fix this. A lot of people are dying.
- [ ] Write-in
A/N: You will not be designing her exaltation point-by-point. That does not mean you will not be designing it; this is possibly the most important stunt you will write in the story. Your shard knows all the charms in the core books, but naming them is not valid elements of a stunted vote - though you may supply names as extra info, for unusual builds. I reserve the right to switch them out as suitable.
The exception to this is charms you've researched, which you absolutely can vote on.
Abilities and attributes will be increased based on a mix of your suggestions and Amu's preferences. Again, do not provide point-by-point votes. However, you have 6 bonus points, which can be assigned to any combination of virtues, willpower, physical attributes, abilities or researched charms without that restriction. At this time at most 2 can be assigned to virtues.
Additionally, as a one-time option:
[ ] Let her compassion fall back to what it was.
[ ] Maximise it, now that you have a unique opportunity to do so.
This will not cost virtue points.
Backgrounds cannot be bought.
Reminder: Here is her current character sheet.
=======
Your earlier research has borne fruit. By studying the connection between Amu and her Charas, you have designed two immediately useful charms. Further research seems plausible once you're out of the current situation, but you'll have to consider that later. You have also noticed that, although not severely, her motivations do change while under a character transformation.
Inexperience-Denying Connection
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: N/A
Prerequisites: None
The dreamer is never alone. With this charm, Amu becomes able to speak with her exaltation shard and is able to gain its advise as well as training.
Dream-Affirming Projection
Cost: 1m/Chara; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: None
Dreams never die. With this charm, the Chara(s) of your choice become visible and tangible to mortals, while shifts in motivation that might render the Chara obsolete become impossible. Motivation shifts cannot "build up" while the exalt is under the influence of this charm; relevant shifts simply do not happen.
"Next stop, Yoyogi park station. Yoyogi park station."
Gadunk. Gadunk.
The train continued to run, taking them ever closer to the park.
Amu shivered and grabbed Mommy's hand tightly, moulding herself against her side. Mom looked questioningly at her for a moment, but only reacted by ruffling her hair and putting an arm around her. Normally she would have protested, but normally she didn't feel this hungry for attention; she'd been feeling unsettled ever since they left home, like there wasn't enough time.
Instead she leaned in further, resting her head on Mom's shoulder and drinking in her warmth. Ran, Miki and Su even joined in, sitting on her shoulders and the back of the seat, trying to get as close to Mom as they could without touching her. She felt sorry for them, not being able to do that; Miki especially, since she was still feeling down from what happened earlier.
"Hey, you," Mommy chuckled. "Not that I mind, but you're being unusually touchy-feely. Did something happen?"
"No," she denied. "Nothing bad." That was true, wasn't it? Today had been a good day, one of many to come. There was absolutely no reason she should feel this way, that any of them should feel this way. And yet…
"Yoyogi park station. Yoyogi park station. Please do not push, and leave the train in an orderly fashion."
She shivered again, a wave of - something - passing through her, but then the train was slowing to a halt, and Mommy pulled her to her feet. It was fine, wasn't it? Nothing bad could happen while they were together.
Mom smiled down at her. "Come on, sweetheart, let's see if we can beat the crowd. It's a little bit of a walk, so the sooner we get out of the station -"
"The sooner we get to the park, yes." She grinned, putting the odd feeling out of her mind.
=======
"So do you want to talk about it? Your not-boyfriend, I mean."
Amu blushed, and tried to buy herself time by chomping down on a large chunk of her ice-cream. Ugh, right… the original purpose they'd gone here was to discuss Ikuto, or rather a carefully edited version of Ikuto, but now she didn't want to do that. She swung her legs back and forth under the park bench, trying to think of how best to explain it.
"Can we do that in ten minutes?" She asked.
"Sure. It's a nice day, after all." Mom leaned back, turning her face to the sun and closing her eyes.
It really was. They were in the middle of Yoyogi park, one of the larger parks in their section of Tokyo, and in her opinion also the prettiest. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and she'd even spotted a deer eating grass while they were walking in, though when she'd asked Mommy to take a photo… she had admittedly been too excited, jumping around enough that the poor animal ran away well before Mom could get out her camera.
There were strangely few other people in the park, given those conditions, but she thought that might have been due to the commotion outside; some kind of religious procession, which a lot of people had been watching. She hoped they'd march through the park, though that seemed unlikely; the face-masks had looked interesting, even if it was a little scary to see that many people dressed up like that.
What should she say about Ikuto, though?
She hopped off the bench and started pacing, deep in thought. Obviously she couldn't give his age; she probably shouldn't say his name, either, just in case Mom looks him up. If she did ask about his age… um, let's say he's fourteen? Right, and he was someone from the middle school attached to her grade-school, who kept helping her out if she got in trouble… well, she could just tell the truth about that, if not about the type of trouble. Unfortunately he already had a girlfriend… well, no, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to be Ikuto's girlfriend, that sounded like she'd be going a bit too far. She definitely wanted him to pay more attention to her, though…
She sighed, scuffing her shoes on the ground. Even figuring out what she wanted was hard, never mind safely explaining it. Maybe she should have asked Utau? She rapidly shook her head. No, that wouldn't work, asking your rival about love sounded like the worst idea ever, and Utau was always so busy, not to mention she was an enemy.
That was something she needed to keep in mind. Utau worked for Easter, and kept trying to destroy people's dreams, so that made her an enemy, and mean besides. Never mind how sad and listless she sometimes looked… she definitely wasn't enjoying it…
"Amu… Amu!" Su spoke up, alarmed. "Can you hear that?"
"Hear what?" She stopped walking, listening closely.
"That! Off in the distance, someone…"
Now that Su had pointed it out, she could. Only barely, but the volume kept increasing, shouts and… were those screams?
You consider the situation, and strengthen her compassion slightly. Only slightly; that's all that's needed.
She wanted to wake Mom and get out of here, she really didn't want to go towards that noise, but if something bad was happening… if she had a chance at helping, she had to take the risk. With Ran and the others, she shouldn't be in any real danger anyway, and they'd already discovered that Su could fix small wounds.
Squeezing tears out of her eyes, she started sprinting towards the screams, her feet hammering against the asphalt. Behind her, she could hear Mommy's startled shout of "Amu?", but then she was around a corner and accelerating. Sorry, mom…
"Ran, please," she said, the urgency in her voice overriding any concerns Ran might have had about doing another transformation so soon. Her vision swam for a moment, then cleared; as Amulet Heart, she could run faster than anyone, and it'd get her there in time. In time for what, she wasn't sure yet.
=======
The scene, when she found it, was like someone had made a nightmare out what should have been an idyllic clearing.
There was a large group of people in yellow uniforms, surrounding a smaller number of what appeared to be… nuns, or something like that. Mixed in with the nuns were the ones from the religious procession that had been passing by outside, and she could see frequent scuffles and even some fights, but for the most part they seemed to have formed an alliance against the surrounding group.
She could see bodies on the ground, bleeding…
Amu made her way closer, keeping to the trees; she'd found that people generally didn't look up, and these people were definitely preoccupied. She wasn't sure what to do - the uniforms gave a sense of authority, which meant there might be no need for her to help, but everything was obviously not all right yet. Instead of charging in, she climbed closer and tried to eavesdrop, to see if she could figure out what was going on. One of the yellow-suited men was almost directly beneath her, now, and talking on a cellphone…
"…Yes, Chief Hotsuin. No, we haven't found him yet. He should be hiding in the crowd."
There was a long pause.
"…Are you certain? No, I didn't mean to question you, but… yes, I see. We won't let him get away."
He fiddled with his phone for a second, then raised his voice. "Listen up! We're go for plan D. Repeat, go for plan D!"
Amu stared at the phone. It might be her imagination, but…
A blob of shadow formed around his arm, spreading from the phone, then fell on the ground and formed into a cat…monster. It took twenty seconds, during which her eyes got wider and wider, and she could see similar flares of darkness from most of the other uniformed people… Miki and Su hid behind her back, and she couldn't help it, she screamed in fear.
The man beneath her turned and looked up, a startled curse on his lips -
The cat-demon leaped, right towards her, and she instinctively hit it with a heart-beam. It only grazed it, but that was enough to throw it off course, sending it flying helplessly into mid-air.
The beam continued, arcing over the combined groups -
Many of the people on her side of it turned around to see what was happening, and in that very moment a deeper, fundamentally worse shadow bloomed in the middle of the group -
Screams ensued, as the shadow formed into a monster beyond her understanding and started tearing its way out. The surrounding group turned back, preparing to fight, but they had lost the initiative and were out of position. She didn't know… she didn't understand half of what was going on, only that it was somehow her fault. What… what should she…
"Amu! Watch out!" Miki shouted from behind her, and she spun, only to see the cat-demon back on the ground and about to jump at her again. There was a shout from beneath her, but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying. No, no, no… she didn't want to die… she was scared out of her wits, but she didn't want to run away either. She had to help, somehow…
=======
That did not go quite as you had intended. You aren't sure what just happened, only that it would not have happened in Creation. Still, this is probably a good time to exalt her. You could wait, but you'd run the risk of Amu taking damage that would make the exaltation insufficient for her survival.
You don't have to. The events you have witnessed today are sufficiently abnormal, for a human, that she only barely counts as human enough to exalt. In fact, the scales are weighed evenly enough that it's your conscious decision that will decide. Undoing the exaltation is impossible, short of death, and even if the scales should shift further that will not weigh on your behaviour afterwards.
[ ] Wait and see. Perhaps give her a few nudges to let her survive.
[ ] Exaltation time.
- [ ] Focus on survival and personal power.
- [ ] Focus on ways to fix this. A lot of people are dying.
- [ ] Write-in
A/N: You will not be designing her exaltation point-by-point. That does not mean you will not be designing it; this is possibly the most important stunt you will write in the story. Your shard knows all the charms in the core books, but naming them is not valid elements of a stunted vote - though you may supply names as extra info, for unusual builds. I reserve the right to switch them out as suitable.
The exception to this is charms you've researched, which you absolutely can vote on.
Abilities and attributes will be increased based on a mix of your suggestions and Amu's preferences. Again, do not provide point-by-point votes. However, you have 6 bonus points, which can be assigned to any combination of virtues, willpower, physical attributes, abilities or researched charms without that restriction. At this time at most 2 can be assigned to virtues.
Additionally, as a one-time option:
[ ] Let her compassion fall back to what it was.
[ ] Maximise it, now that you have a unique opportunity to do so.
This will not cost virtue points.
Backgrounds cannot be bought.
Reminder: Here is her current character sheet.
=======
Your earlier research has borne fruit. By studying the connection between Amu and her Charas, you have designed two immediately useful charms. Further research seems plausible once you're out of the current situation, but you'll have to consider that later. You have also noticed that, although not severely, her motivations do change while under a character transformation.
Inexperience-Denying Connection
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: N/A
Prerequisites: None
The dreamer is never alone. With this charm, Amu becomes able to speak with her exaltation shard and is able to gain its advise as well as training.
Dream-Affirming Projection
Cost: 1m/Chara; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: None
Dreams never die. With this charm, the Chara(s) of your choice become visible and tangible to mortals, while shifts in motivation that might render the Chara obsolete become impossible. Motivation shifts cannot "build up" while the exalt is under the influence of this charm; relevant shifts simply do not happen.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
HERE WE GOOOO
[X] Exaltation time.
- [X] Focus on ways to fix this. A lot of people are dying.
[X] Exaltation time.
- [X] Focus on ways to fix this. A lot of people are dying.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Oh, I forgot to mention.
Amu is currently boosted to Compassion 5. You may, at your option, choose to make that permanent; yes, that would allow you three virtue points. This is a one-time opportunity.
...and you really, really should give her build a bit more thought than just voting for one of the premade options.
Amu is currently boosted to Compassion 5. You may, at your option, choose to make that permanent; yes, that would allow you three virtue points. This is a one-time opportunity.
...and you really, really should give her build a bit more thought than just voting for one of the premade options.