[IC] TotMV:G^2: Clash of Fate: The Barracks (Social/Prep Phase)

[StormLord]

"No problem, I didn't exactly get to pick it, though I've never thought it that odd.  I mean, maybe where I come from names are just...different.  I know a girl named 2K for crying out loud."

As she talked she looked around the room, only two people.  She glanced back and forth between the two other people, that is until she caught eye contact with the Goddess.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt you."  She spoke in the general direction of Navin and Mitsu, a hint of nervousness was apparent in her voice. 

She looked back at Solomon, the nervousness in her voice slowly getting stronger, she was clearly uncomfortable.

"Umm Solomon, I don't think your friend is in here, maybe we should go back outside and look for her elsewhere."

She looked back at the door, as if making sure it was still there.

[Yours Truly]

1 minute ago, StormLord said:

"No problem, I didn't exactly get to pick it, though I've never thought it that odd.  I mean, maybe where I come from names are just...different.  I know a girl named 2K for crying out loud."

As she talked she looked around the room, only two people.  She glanced back and forth between the two other people, that is until she caught eye contact with the Goddess.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt you."  She spoke in the general direction of Navin and Mitsu, a hint of nervousness was apparent in her voice. 

She looked back at Solomon, the nervousness in her voice slowly getting stronger, she was clearly uncomfortable.

"Umm Solomon, I don't think your friend is in here, maybe we should go back outside and look for her elsewhere."

She looked back at the door, as if making sure it was still there.

Solomon nodded at Spicy HG after he finally realized the fact that Bridgett seemed to be nowhere to be found...and that she probably wouldn't hang around a place that had so many people hanging around inside of it. And he quietly formed yet another throne of books for her to sit on before he quietly floated up to her once more. "Yeah I don't think that she would hang around a place with this many people anyway...maybe we should check the armory next?". After he said those words he would float out of the room almost as loudly as he left it.

[Chevaleresse]

Mitsurugi shrugged slightly. It was an odd gesture, on her frame. "I've had my experiences with strangeness." She seemed to be about to continue when a familiar shadow fell across her face; she shook her head slightly, and addressed the newcomer. "You aren't interrupting anything of particular importance." Her expression cleared up as the distraction presented itself; namely, the question of why the girl seemed to look so suddenly nervous at meeting her gaze. "Whatever manner of supernatural being you believe me to be, I am not a hostile one; there is no reason to look at me with such fear." You would be better off fearing the man beside you. Certainly, he is not the most reliable of humans, to say the least.

[StormLord]

At first Mitsu's words seemed to do little to calm her down.

"Hmm, well you see the others said the same thing until they...well...I...humph, I guess that wouldn't matter here would it?" 

She stopped herself, realization dawning on her face.

"I...I think I may have over reacted, so lets start this again.  My name is Spicy HG, I'm from the reinforcement group."

Mitsurugi would notice some divine energy coming from the girl, not much, maybe four or five times that of the "normal" person, likely far less than one would expect from any holy or blessed warrior.  She looked far less nervous now, though still somewhat tense.

[Powder Miner]

Now that he was actively looking for it, Navin didn't miss the sudden pall that came to her expression, and he opened and closed his mouth -- yet again he seemed to be hitting upon whatever reminded her of the people Empi had told him that she had lost, and he had no idea how NOT to hit these things. Thankfully, a distraction came, which allowed Navin to just keep his stupid mouth shut. The two of them seemed to exchange a couple of words, but after the new woman introduced herself, Navin proceeded to introduce himself because, uh, that was probably better to do than to upset miss Saigai again. "Ah... My name is Navin Mhasalkar. It is a pleasure to meet you."

[Chevaleresse]

"Saigai Mitsurugi," she said simply, bowing slightly with her greeting. Some sort of divinely-affiliated being. Some object of minor worship, perhaps, not yet transcended to full godhood? Or perhaps a being on the level of Toyosatomimi no Miko: not a god, but not a simple hermit either. Or, well, she was. . . Her expression grew increasingly forlorn as she tried to swerve around that thought. A part of her cursed herself; this was ridiculous, she couldn't continuously throw herself off of this ledge, this was entirely unfitting to her station. "I. . . apologize. You remind me slightly of someone I. . . once knew." 

[ElfCollaborator]

Empi resisted the urge to curse out loud as Spicy and Solomon got in the way of Navin and Mitsu's reconciliation. She settled for quietly clenching her fists, looking very much annoyed; thankfully, her glamour was keeping her hidden, so nobody (except possibly Mitsu, and Empi was used to goddesses seeing straight through her glamour).

 

All these distractions were getting in the way of Empi's plans, and it was seriously irritating her. The temptation to bodily pick the two of them up and drag them out of the barracks was intense. She decided to calm herself down by mouthing rather foul words that should never be repeated in polite company at them instead.

[Powder Miner]

Navin grimaced as he watched the Japanese goddess very rapidly start to continue down the path she had earlier, and Navin was almost starting to sweat because of how poorly things were going. He looked between Mitsurugi, and down the hall at Solomon, and then at Spicy HG, and he winced. Okay... this wasn't going to end well, even Navin could tell that. Miss Saigai probably didn't need a completely new person and also Solomon hovering in the hall outside, so he should probably find a way to separate them from the situation.

 

He took a couple of steps forward towards Spicy with an unsure, "what am I doing even" kind of expression on his face. Not only would he have to be terribly rude by doing that, but he would also be implying that Mitsurugi couldn't handle the situation herself, which is not an insult that he really wanted to be giving. So after stepping forward he kind of just... looked around again and then gave Spicy a pleading look.

[StormLord]

Spicy HG replied to the foreign(to her at least) man's gaze with a thoroughly confused look.

She turned back to Mitsurugi and looked her up and down quickly.  Dark hair, gold eyes, fancy sword, simple clothes, wait a second something is wrong with that shea-Shit.

 

From the outside it would have looked like the girl was just glancing up and down Mitsurugi, until her eyes popped open wide with a blank stare, followed by an odd twitch in her right eye that made it blink open and closed rapidly, and for a split second in-between two of the blinks Navin and Mitsurugi might catch a glimpse of something different, her pale blue eye replaced by something blood red with a strange symbol instead of an iris(Navin may recognize it as an "on/off" symbol, common in modern tech).  But just as quick as it came it was gone, a single blink that hardly even happened.  She snapped out of it in less that a second and a half, she blinked once more(this time with both eyes) and quickly looked between Navin and Mitsurugi.

"I think I should catch up with Solomon now, we were looking for someone.  It was nice to meet you both."  She gave a short hurried bow, turned around, and walk down the hall after Solomon.

[Powder Miner]

Navin was left dumbstruck for a moment after 'Spicy' had some sort of... issue, that he could see with whatever was going on with her eyes, and then left hurriedly. He ran his hand through his hair for a moment, in thought. Well, he wasn't sure what had just happened, but he didn't think her condition was worse than Mitsurugi's, and she was with the strange book man, anyway, so... yeah. Navin figured that he should probably prevent any more interruptions. He looked for an actual door to close, but didn't find one -- it seemed that, this being a barracks, the people in the fort didn't feel the need for more than a doorway in a training room, or whatever this room was meant to be.

 

Navin turned to Mitsurugi, who he was watching go down the same path she had in their earlier conversation, and then he exhaled. Eventually, though, he worked up a suggestion: "Er... perhaps we should move to a room here that is a little less open, and a little more out of the way...?"

[Chevaleresse]

The goddess sighed heavily before nodding, her gaze still downturned. "I believe that would be helpful, yes. In a place like this, it is difficult to avoid whoever may be coming or going. . . and one can never know who might already be listening in." This last was said with a glance through her bangs, straight at Empi, before she closed her eyes in a long blink before turning toward the door. "This castle should have a basement, which should see little use at a time like this." She started to head out of the room, expecting Navin to follow; a staircase downward wasn't far away.

[Powder Miner]

Navin was totally oblivious to the spying presence of Empi, so Mitsu's glare and statement towards her just sounded like a good precaution to him, causing him to just nod. "Right. I will be just behind you, if it does not bother you." And accordingly, Navin followed her  down the hall and down the staircase -- he had no objections to her agreeing to go somewhere more private, considering that it was a suggestion he thought would probably be helpful.

 

When the two got down to the doorway, he was silent for a moment, before venturing forth a hesitant "...so..." It didn't take a social competent to notice how upset she had suddenly become, but it probably did take one to eloquently address it -- the awkward beginning of a sentence was all Navin presently could think to offer.

[ElfCollaborator]

Empi simply shrugs when Mitsu glares at her, pointing at Navin and making a look as if to say "I'll explain later but don't say a word about me being here".  She floats along behind them regardless, not saying a word to conceal her presence.

 

She had totally expected Mitsu to see straight through her glamour anyway; some humans and all goddesses had the ability to see through it. Then again, Empi wasn't trying to hide from Mitsu; if she was, she would've picked a better method. Mitsu may have had six-hundred-odd years on Empi, but Empi had three-hundred-odd years of learning how to get away from a goddesss' prying eyes in a workplace.

 

And besides, this was standard protocol for dealing with problem clients, which Navin, well, was. A better problem client than usual, but a problem client he was.

[Chevaleresse]

As they moved downward into the basement, Mitsu reached out, fingertips brushing against the wall, and deftly traced out a set of symbols almost faster than they eye could follow. They flashed faintly before vanishing from sight completely; subtly enough that Navin may not have noticed at all. To Empi, trying to follow down the stairs would be akin to forcing her way through a barrier of cellophane wrap; not exactly enough to keep her out, but enough to be irritating to break all the way through. The message was clear: "Leave." When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mitsurugi continued to walk forward, in search of a place to sit, as she replied to Navin. "I am sorry for my behavior, Mhasalkar. It has been. . . so very difficult to keep myself centered in these times, to be honest."

[ElfCollaborator]

Empi is rather irritated by the barrier being erected in front of her, but she had no intention of pursuing it any more. Mitsu was probably wholly capable of horrifically murdering her in a thousand different ways, and Empi wasn't quite sure her insurance plan covered all of them. Maybe, at best, 90% of them. Working for Venus had its perks.

 

And anyway, Navin wouldn't manage to fuck up with Mitsu again while she wasn't watching. Hopefully. That was, in theory, the best hope.  Empi figured he wasn't stupid enough to make the same exact mistake twice.

 

She'd just smack Navin if he, by some goddamn coincidence, he fucked it up again.

 

Disappointed, but with hardly any other way of getting around it, she wanders off to bug someon else.

Edited October 23, 2017 by ElfCollaborator

[Projeck]

A short woman in shiny steel armor, and a motorized blade the size of herself, walks near the barracks. Her face is emotionless, as she inspects the stonework of the castle's walls.

[Powder Miner]

Navin might have been oblivious to many subtleties of social interaction, or sometimes to how on Earth to respond to changes in emotional state, but the man was not blind, and if he were there was a not insignificant chance he'd have died by now. However, while Navin did notice Mitsurugi's quick finger-scribbling of symbols, he figured that whatever magic Mitsurugi was performing was some sort of barrier or safeguard -- she must be really serious about the privacy of this next conversation, he thought, and he would conduct himself accordingly.

 

When they got downstairs, Navin took a seat across from her, at a distance that allowed for a fairly private and intimate conversation, but one that wasn't so close as to violate personal conversation. "It is... not something you should apologize too much for, miss Saigai. I cannot imagine that it would be particularly easy with all that has been going on, and, well... with people running roughshod all over you in conversation." Navin grimaced a little bit at that, and spoke a little bit more haltingly. "I... want to try to help in any way that I can, but I ask that you please forgive me if I blunder. I will be trying very hard, but I... have lived in such a way that... well, I am not just bad at talking with people, I am genuinely deficient in it. So. I apologize for that. But still, I do want to try."

[Zetaark]

Ritsu

Having relocated inside the barracks, Ritsu decides to continue some of her maintenance, while also being aware of her surroundings. She'd rather not have someone else trip over her and interrupt her diagnostics.

[Projeck]

Snow quietly stands in the doorway to the barracks watching the woman (Ritsu) work on her maintenance, solely out of boredom.

[Chevaleresse]

"I understand. It. . . is not exactly easy to avoid connecting things to. . . things that were; it is not your fault." She took a deep, slightly ragged breath at that; it almost physically hurt to refer to everything and everyone she had known as such (in fact, given that she was, at her core, made from essentially human emotions, it perhaps was a real pain for her.) A second breath, slightly steadier, and she spoke again. "I. . . how do I put this. I should tell you why I have had such. . . difficulty. But it is a sad story."

[Powder Miner]

As Navin watched her, even he could tell that she was suffering quite a bit, and that was a little unnerving to watch, in the way that seeing someone in distress can be. Nonetheless, Navin would be at fault if he didn't at least try to listen to the melancholic, beautiful woman and try to help in some way, no matter if (no, especially if) her story was an unfathomably sad one. After a moment, he spoke. "If you are willing to tell it, I am willing to sit here and listen. If you do not want to do so, I will not be offended."

[Chevaleresse]

The woman took another deep breath, steadying herself. "Very well. I was never esteemed as a great storyteller, so you will have to bear with me." From the odd way her face contorted, it seemed as if she was attempting to make some sort of joke. 

 

Evidently, it wasn't funny to her, either.

"I once lived in Japan, in a place called Gensokyo. I was not born there; it was built for beings like myself, when the mortal world determined that it no longer needed us." She shook her head; were it in another context, her expression made it clear that she would have expounded on this thing that she regarded as a great tragedy. "Many magical beings lived there; it was a refuge, for gods and youkai, and for those humans steeped in the ways of mysticism. Though I hold no fondness for the circumstances that brought me there, it was a truly special place, and I had a great many friends that lived there." Her eyes slowly drifted from Navin's, staring into the past.

 

"Some of my descendants, too, diluted though their bloodline may have been. Though it has been. . . I do not remember how long, since I last bore a child. Not that it matters any more." Goddesses did not sniffle. If Navin heard something of the like, it must have come from someone else; his ears were obviously playing tricks on him. "I did not realize anything was wrong until the barrier came down. There were whispers about the Hakurei miko, but rumors are transient things, even in times and places where they suddenly gain power." Her head shook slightly, once. "I should have been more vigilant. As the barrier vanished, these. . . things appeared. Some of them, beyond description. Their passage was like the passage of the sage of gaps, but the rents they left in reality did not vanish. The others, like Hina. . . Like if a child dreamed a nightmare of the people I knew." It seemed that the ceiling might have had a leak. Surely it was the only explanation for the moisture Mitsurugi felt trailing down her cheek. "I tried to force them back. Many people, humans and youkai and Outsiders alike, rallied to me. Put their faith in me, that this goddess of calamity could destroy the invaders, as storms had destroyed those who had threatened the land in the past."

 

"I could not." 

 

Mitsurugi swallowed, taking a shuddering breath. "I could not fight hard enough. I shattered the islands beneath me as I fought them, but I could not. Thousands and thousands of mortals fell, not to these Trespassers, but to the hurricanes that I brought, to the eruptions that split the earth at my call, but I could not." Her voice dropped to a pained whisper as she spoke this last. "That is my grief, that is my failure. They depended upon me to save them, and I could not."

 

Her shoulders shook - it must have been some strange draft. That would be that strange noise, that sounded like sobbing; an errant breeze, wafting in from above. . . surely.

[Powder Miner]

Navin sat patiently and listened as Mitsurugi told her tale of guilt, destruction and sadness; it was almost a surreal experience watching the woman slowly fall apart more and more, until she was outright sobbing and in tears in front of him. Of course, with what Navin had heard from her, it was not as if he were passing judgement on the goddess for that. Her story... part of it did resonate for him; the struggle to keep her world from being destroyed, the grueling and horrible battle against invading forces, and the guilt of people dying for her... Navin was familiar with those, and to a painful degree. This must have been what Empi had been talking about earlier, when she had said that Navin would be able to understand Mitsurugi. But this... nothing Navin had experienced could ever compare with this. If the Earth had failed to defend itself in his world, maybe, but even then her story had horrible, extra details, and she had killed thousands in her battle (not that Navin thought less of her for it, seeing as that was what it was).

 

Still, he had to try to understand and help. It's what he'd put himself in this position to do, after all. That didn't make consoling a woman crying over her failure to save the entirety of everything she'd ever known and sought to defend much easier, of course, but he definitely had to try. Nonetheless, Navin was silent for a few moments, the sounds in the room just Mitsu's sobbing, as he mulled over his options. He wasn't going to pretend that he could say some magic words to make it go away, or that she should just buck up and move on, or something stupid like that. Things didn't work that way. Incidents like those never left you, because that was the kind of scar that was permanent., something he knew well himself. Instead what he could try to do was to understand her, and perhaps therefore give her some sort of... opening to... speak about it, to have someone listen to her and get it.

 

Eventually, he spoke. "...I believe that I might understand," he began. Maybe the best thing Navin could do right now was just to speak openly and honestly about his intentions. "I will not claim to have been through what you have been, and I am not going to... trample you by trying to talk about my own life, but miss Powderbelle talked to me earlier and said that perhaps I could understand you more than the others. I... do not think that she could have known quite enough to really call this her prediction, but I think that maybe she was right. I understand, to at least some extent, the burden and the guilt of others dying for you." He paused for another moment, searching to put his thoughts into words. "...I do not know everything about it, of course, but I know enough that maybe I can help in some way besides," and here he was perhaps taking a gamble about their similarities, "just... telling you to stop being so saddened by it or to move on, as if it works that way. I can... talk. And understand, at least some." Well, that was all Navin could really think of. But hopefully it was a step in the right direction.

Edited October 25, 2017 by Powder Miner

[Chevaleresse]

Mitsurugi gradually choked off her sobs in order to attempt to manage a response to Navin. "Thank you, Mhasalkar." She swallowed. "I. . . know that my expectations of myself were not reasonable. A being that could conquer the Hakurei miko and the gap youkai. . . it is foolish to think that I had a chance." She sniffled again, clearly fighting back another burst of tears. "But my existence is to protect my followers. They are synonymous. Most of my being is devoted to saving those who supply me with faith, but I could not." Her voice rattled at the end of the sentence. It seemed as if she was about to speak again. . . but she didn't. The goddess was clearly fighting to hold the shattered pieces of her composure together, and this took enough effort that she had no energy left over to try and speak, for fear of it breaking again; all this was written across her face.

[Powder Miner]

Well, Mitsurugi seemed to have at the least stopped crying for now, and she wasn't angry at him, so Navin figured that his approach was the right one. Understand her as best he could. Of course, she was still clearly having a lot of trouble not falling back into weeping, and she was speaking again, talking about her expectations of herself, so Navin couldn't exactly go patting himself on the back quite yet.

 

He raised a hand to her shoulder height and hesitantly moved it over to her, before lightly putting his hand down, resting it gently on her shoulder -- that was something people did when consoling someone, right? People had done it to him before. He hesitated again and then spoke. "...yes, I understand that too. How... that guilt follows you, even when you know it shouldn't, but it still does." Navin sighed internally just a little bit; he wasn't being particularly eloquent here.